Forgiveness = Love

What keeps me from loving people? What keeps me from allowing others to love me?

There is a story in the bible of Jesus going to eat dinner at a local pastors house.  When Jesus gets to the pastors place a woman comes in who is a local prostitute.  This woman begins to weep as she kneels down before Jesus.  Her tears fall onto His feet and she begins cleaning His feet with her hair and her tears.  Then she takes out a jar of expensive perfume and pours it over His head.  The pastor says to Jesus, "do you know who this woman is?  And if so, why are you allowing her to do this?"  Jesus replies to the pastor and says some things to him.  Jesus says in Luke 7:47 "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."

I have taken some time lately to process through why it is some people love more than others.  Why some have an easier time expressing and accepting love in their lives.  I'm not sure if there is one answer to this conundrum or if there are multiple answers based on varying situations and circumstances.  However, I think this story sheds a little light on the whole thing.

Jesus already forgave me for my sins, that's what He did by offering His life for mine on the cross at calvary.  God forgave my sins when Jesus was sent to the cross to die for me.  But I may not realize, understand, or access that forgiveness until I have been made aware of my need to be forgiven and the forgiveness Jesus has given me.  I believe the awareness of being truly forgiven is a process and comes to me in stages throughout life.  I don't simply wake one day to the full understanding of His forgiveness and what He did for me on the cross.  This woman in the story of Luke chapter 7 had an awakening to the magnitude of who Jesus was and that He came to forgive her.  She loved Him so extravagantly that the bottle of perfume she poured over Him was said to cost a years working wage.

I know I have grown to love Jesus in a deeper level as I've also come to realize with deeper understanding what He accomplished for my life and the forgiveness He so freely gives me each day.  Honestly, I've noticed that I love other people more as I grow in the understanding of His forgiveness.  It's almost like it pours out of me.  I desire to bring the feelings of love and forgiveness I have on the inside, outside to the people I surround myself with.

So, would it make sense that as I am lead into deeper levels of forgiveness I am also lead into deeper levels of love?  Does my ability to love purely and extravagantly grow as I navigate through the caverns of my heart and clean out the darkness with the Light of Heaven?

If this concept is true, than that means people are wired the same when it comes to love.  We are all wired to love entirely purely and extravagantly.  The only thing that keeps us from loving this way is our understanding and belief in our personal forgiveness.

I think the necessary measure is to truly forgive ourselves.  To truly forgive the people from our past that have hurt and wounded us.  To truly allow His forgiveness to wash over our lives and permeate our hearts.  If we don't allow the revelation of His forgiveness and love to pour over our lives we'll live in darkness.  We'll always be holding ourselves back from living a good and lovingly affectionate life.

The abuse we know is sometimes better than the future we don't know.  And make no mistake, when we live in the darkness of withholding forgiveness from our lives we are living in self-inflicted abuse.  It's scary to forgive and allow Him to forgive us because it's scary not knowing what the future brings.

We don't need to understand or know what the future brings.  We need to receive love and forgiveness in our lives and give love and forgiveness to others.