He who is forgiven the most, loves the most

Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little. Luke 7:47.

A dinner was being held at Simon's house. He was concerned that Jesus accepted and forgave people so easily. That is why the Lord told him the parable of the two debtors. One owed a large amount. The debt of the other was small. Both were forgiven. Jesus asked: "Which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said (Luke 7:42, 43).

From our human understanding, such generously offered forgiveness might seem dangerous. It could degenerate into license. We think there must be some limit to the number of times we should repent, because otherwise, we would continue sinning and repenting indefinitely. However, love is the safeguard against license. Since those who have been forgiven much know better than anyone how great is the love of the one who forgave them, they respond by loving much more. "Those who are forgiven the most, will love Him the most, and will be closer to his throne praising Him for his great love and infinite sacrifice. The more fully we understand the love of God, the more we will realize the sinfulness of sin" (Steps to Christ, p. 38).

Knowing that we are loved unconditionally makes us feel inspired to respond to that love. When we understand God's love toward us, we are led to repentance, and the more we know of that love, the deeper our repentance.

Only if we love Him can we keep His commandments. "All true obedience comes from the heart" (The Desire of Ages, p. 621). When we come to Jesus just as we are every day, we realize that He accepts us. When He grants us the gift of repentance, we understand something of that love that is large enough to offer repentance and forgiveness, even to those of us who need to be forgiven much. Thus, we come to love Him, and then we wish to obey Him.

Pr. Morris Venden