“No sin can keep a repentant heart from encountering God’s love.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 1, 2026
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:47-48, NIV
Some of our sins are more obvious than others. In Luke 7, we are presented with two wildly different public perceptions and the perceived virtue of two individuals. On the one hand, Jesus is dining with a Pharisee, a highly educated and respectable leader within Jewish society. On the other, a woman who was known to be immoral and a sinner sits at the feet of Jesus. One’s sins are hidden from the public, and one cannot escape them. The social expectation would have been for Jesus to send this woman away, casting her aside like a stray dog that wanders into the room, lest her impurities somehow “rub off” on him. Yet as he often did, Jesus turned this moment on its head and revealed the true nature of love.
Those who know they are forgiven love freely. Those convinced of their correctness fail to see their own faults and thus cannot love from a place of genuine gratitude and thanksgiving. No sin can keep a repentant heart from encountering God’s love. No shame is greater than his salvation. No fear that he cannot cast out.
The invitation before us today is to learn to see ourselves as we truly are, not as we curate or present ourselves to the world. The woman in Luke 7 had nowhere to hide, for her sins were on public display for all to see. For most of us, we are able, perhaps like the Pharisee, to present a far more buttoned-up appearance. Yet each of us has sins for which Christ died, inverted loves that need to be healed, desires that are distorted and misdirected that Christ longs to transform.
Awareness of our sins is not for shame but is meant to deepen our love. Let us see our sin and not despair, but instead show our Lord “much love.”
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:8-9, NLT).
Prayer
Father, remind us today that we are all in need of your healing touch, and give us grateful hearts that pour out our own tears of gratitude upon the feet of Jesus, showing him much love. Amen.
Application
How can you live like the woman in Luke 7 today, pouring out your tears and precious perfume upon the feet of Christ?
Related Reading
Psalm 32:1; Romans 5:20; 1 Timothy 1:15
Worship Resource
Paul McClure: Jesus We Love You
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