For She Loved Much

"And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little."

--Luke 7:37-47

I relate to this story in two ways. I often feel like I'm the servant who owed little, and then I often feel like the servant who owed much.

I feel like the servant who owed little because I see others all around that are living without the gospel of Jesus Christ. This summer, I worked with a lot of people who were not living their lives according to Christ's gospel. But as I got to know these people, I realized that each soul was beautiful. I knew that our Savior loved them just as much as He loves me. He doesn't approve of sin, but He loves those who sin despite that. We all need to remember this in our daily interactions with people. Christ loves everyone, so we should love everyone. Who are we to despise or reject those whom the Savior would love and welcome?

Then sometimes, I feel like I owe the Savior so much because I am so flawed and broken. I often feel like I have to do everything and be perfect. But I forget that without my Savior, everything good I do is vain. Because I forget this, I am really hard on myself and feel unnecessary guilt when I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, and the Lord knows this, but He loves me anyway. Because I'm imperfect, I need to rely more on the Savior's atonement and grow closer to Him through allowing Him to make up the difference. I don't have to do everything on my own; I do have to come unto Christ. His grace makes up for all I lack. Like this woman, I am a sinner, and I will be until the day I die and His grace makes me immortal and perfect. For now, I will just praise His name, love Him, and try to be who He would like me to be.