Adapted from an article by Joe Stowell

Luke 7:37,38

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

 For most of us, prostitution, as well as sex and drug addiction, spousal abuse, and other criminal acts represents a rather repulsive aspect of our society.  Given our disdain for such godless practices, my guess is that few of us have ever thought about the people trapped in their own prisons let alone the thought of taking the love of Jesus to them.  We are far more prone to think of them with sanctimonious aloofness—an aloofness that Jesus never felt.

Simon was repulsed by the prostitute who had crashed his party uninvited. We can image how he must have watched with revulsion the outpouring of her love at Jesus’ feet.  His religion had shut her out.  Jesus, on the other hand, extended love and forgiveness to her and welcomed her in. What a contrast!

Getting over a condemning attitude toward people who are not like us—and openly sinful as well—is not an easy thing.  Our self-righteousness has a way of backfiring on us when we become proud that we are not like them and think of them as hopeless objects of God’s judgment—if indeed we think of them at all.  The religious in Jesus’ day were constantly shocked that He cared about sinners.  But as He oftened reminded them,  I came to seek and save those who are lost.

At CCM, we believe that getting over our infatuation with how good we are begins by asking ourselves if we want to be more like the compassionate Jesus.  By being tired of how we feel when we are self-righteous and proud.  We need to recognize that following His lead to love the lost is a breath of fresh air and most definately worth the effort.

Ask Yourself…

1.      What is your attitude toward “sinners,” in particular the “worst” of them?

2.      What is your attitude toward your own sin?   If you were to compare yourself to God’s standard of holiness (instead of comparing yourself to others), how would you rate?

3.      Are you willing for Jesus to show you those who are hurting and broken?   If He does, are you willing to extend His love to them?   If not, pray that He will stir the right response in your heart.

                 Let's all desire to be more like Christ