BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Jesus says we will be known by our love, and our love is to make Him known. But let me ask you a question:

Who is the hardest person for you to love?

Oh, I know exactly who it is.

It’s someone you live with. Someone you work with. Someone in every one of your circles.

It’s YOU.

You are the person you are hardest on. You know every flaw, every failure, every awkward quirk, every stupid thing you’ve ever said, and every way you think you should be doing better.

And because you spend a whole lot of time with you, you’ve become really good at criticizing you.

I’m a fan of long-distance relationships. Our time together is short and sweet. It is savored and precious, then you go home. I don’t have to deal with your quirky self on the daily, and let me tell you, girl, you are quirky! You’ve got some weird things you do. Some of y’all label stuff, then alphabetize it. Some of y’all can’t sit and keep your hands still. Some of y’all eat really loud. And some of y’all come up with the craziest cockamamie ideas that no one understands.

Oh wait. That’s me.

It’s cute for a short amount of time, but then it’s best if we have some space.

And that’s the problem.

Wherever you go, THERE YOU ARE!

You can’t get space from you.

You intimately know your struggles. You have to put up with your own darn quirkiness twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You had a front-row seat to every one of your failures. You don’t even like the sound of your own voice. And let’s not talk about looking in the mirror or seeing yourself in photos.

Oh mercy.

It’s a real issue.

Do you have a hard time loving you?

Let’s make this real clear: this is a problem.

You will be known by your love, and your love is to make Him known, but you refuse to fully love the one person you can simply never get away from: YOU.

I promise you this: you hating you is not an honorable representation of your Creator. You may cover it up as humility, but at its core, it’s hateful. You’re hateful toward you.

And you being hateful toward you doesn’t make a single soul say, “Wow, I just gotta know what that girl is doing! I gotta know about the One who helps her hate herself so well. I just gotta know where she gets this deep critical spirit for herself, because I really want some of that too.”

Nobody ever says that.

In fact, what if your self-hatred is actually telling the world something about your God that isn’t true?

Imagine something you own now that you really love. Maybe you love your Roomba. Maybe it’s your Sleep Number bed. How about your Lululemon workout pants? Or your Stanley cup, your Dyson hair dryer, your UGG winter boots, your jacked-up Jeep, your fancy Tesla, or your Dawn Dishwashing Spray (because that stuff is pure magic and gets a three-month-old stain out of your favorite shirt.)

You have something you love. Now imagine that product you love started telling you all about how much it disliked itself.

What if your UGG boots constantly told you how truly ugly they were? Because let’s face it, those boots are ugly. You know that’s why they’re called UGG, right? Ugg-ly!

If every step you took in your UGG boots came with a little voice saying, “I’m so ugly. I hate how I look. I don’t deserve to be worn,” you would eventually start believing there was something wrong with them.

****And there’s certainly something wrong with whoever made those boots, because boots aren’t supposed to talk about how ugly they are.

What if your Roomba roamed around on your floors, vacuuming up all that dog hair like she always does, but she started incessantly talking about her clumsiness and her tendency to bump into things? “Oh my gosh, I can never just get from the kitchen to the bedroom without running into everything. I always get stuck under the couch. Gosh, why do I do that? I hate that about my Roomba self. I’m always just wandering around lost, and then I start running low and run out of energy. I just can’t do it all.”

If your Roomba started talking like this, you would think the insanely rich creator of the Roomba wasn’t so great after all. Dude, what you made hates itself!

Here’s your ah-ha moment: Could that be your representation of God?

“Oh, God is sooooo good. He is sooooo faithful. I loveeeeeee God, but I just can’t love me. I’m just messed up. I’m flawed. I’m never good enough. I’m unworthy. But everybody, you should really love the One who personally designed me. He’s great!”

Do you see what you’re doing when you are unloving toward yourself?

Do you see how it’s totally NOT humble, totally not honoring, and totally not God’s will for you? You see it, don’t you? So when are you going to get serious enough to do something about it?

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Girl, you are God’s workmanship, his masterpiece. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are not some random collection of flaws that happened to land on this planet.

You were made by a Maker. And the Maker gets to decide the value of what He made.

Psalm 139:14 says: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.”

What if you started seeing yourself through the eyes of the One who made you? Not through the eyes of comparison. Not through the eyes of your worst day. Not through the eyes of the person who rejected you. Not through the eyes of the mirror. Not through the eyes of the scale.

Through the eyes of your Maker.

Because you know what? The person you have spent the most time criticizing is the person God has spent your entire life loving.

You have been rehearsing your failures. God has been lavishing you with grace.

You have been pointing out what’s wrong with you. God has been calling you His masterpiece.

You have been disqualifying yourself. God has been inviting you closer.

Romans 8:1 says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” That little voice in your head that never stops reminding you that you’re not enough? That isn’t the voice of your Savior. Jesus convicts, but He doesn’t condemn.

There is a difference between God lovingly showing you something He wants to change – and you continually beating yourself up for being human. One leads you toward Jesus. The other makes you hide from Him.

Do you want to know why loving others exhausts you so much sometimes? Because you show up already worn out from the battle you’re fighting with yourself.

Before you ever greet your family in the morning, you’ve already beat yourself up for how your body is aging, how your energy is never enough, and how you’ve secretly failed yourself. Maybe you put on a good show so no one else sees it, but you hear it. That little voice in your head just never stops.

It’s why we struggle with relationships. We’re looking for someone to fill that empty hole within us, but no matter how much they pour into us, it’s never enough because, girl, you keep poking at the hole.

God wants to heal that hole in you. He wants to help you calm the voices. He wants you to receive His love so deeply that you no longer need everybody else to convince you that you are worthy of being loved. He wants you to love yourself in a way that reflects the love He already has for you, so you can show up in this world in a way that glorifies your Creator.

Jude 1:20–21 MSG: “Stay right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!”

Stay right at the center of God’s love. That’s what we are supposed to do. And we do precisely the opposite of this.

Us beloved girls of the Almighty, we tear ourselves down in comparison and shortcomings. We disqualify ourselves from the love of God. All while we are supposed to be building ourselves up in faith and keeping ourselves in the love of God.

Instead, we shut down. We shrink and hide. We build walls. And we live on the outskirts of God’s love instead of staying right smack dab in the middle of it.

God’s love for you hasn’t changed. But when you continually tear yourself down, you are living outside the reality of the love He is inviting you to receive.

THIS IS A PROBLEM. A serious problem. And God wants to change that.

What if you started practicing the mindset of being profusely loved by God? Think about that. The mindset of being profusely loved by God.

If you knew how much your Creator loved you, you would find it easier to love you too. And if you loved you as you were created, you would represent your Creator in a magnificent way.

But instead, sometimes you’re the Roomba, wandering around cleaning floors and blasting to the world about your low battery, your tendency to get stuck, and the corners you constantly miss.

It’s hard for me to praise your Maker when you’re continually telling me what He made in you isn’t enough.

Whew. Let that one sink in.

Beloved, build yourself up and keep yourself in the love of God!

Today, practice this mindset of being profusely loved by God. Invite your soul to plunge into His love like a dolphin romping in the sea. Go ahead and get that visual.

The dolphin clearly doesn’t hate itself. It swims and jumps and celebrates everything it was created to do. And every single one of us absolutely LOVES watching a dolphin. We all literally delight in seeing a dolphin just being a dolphin and doing its dolphin things.

A dolphin doesn’t make a lot of money. A dolphin doesn’t speak eloquently. A dolphin doesn’t run marathons. A dolphin doesn’t have a degree. A dolphin does dolphin-ing, and we love it for it! And I’m telling you, we need to see you living like that!

We need to see you plunging into God’s love, building yourself up. We need to see you jumping up, unafraid to be seen, loving how your Creator created you.

I need to see Catherine Catherine-ing.

Rhonda, you honor your Creator when you are Rhonda-ing.

Lynette, please bring your Lynette-ing today.

Julie, get your Julie-ing on today.

Kristin, girl, only you can Kristin like you Kristin.

Jessica, your Jessica-ing and Stephanie, your Stephanie-ing shows me your Creator!

You don’t glorify God by becoming somebody else. You glorify God by becoming fully who He created you to be.

Actively engage in His unending, extravagant, no-strings-attached affection for you. That’s not bragging, boasting, or showing off.

That’s saying, “Hey, I’m an UGG boot, and I’m showing up exactly as I was created to. I was designed to look like this, and the One who made me really likes me!”

That’s saying, “I’m a Tesla Model 3, and I’m not going to beat a Porsche 911 GT2 RS in a race, but I’m going to get you where you’re going in my own way!”

That’s saying, “I’m a Stanley cup. I can’t make my own water, but girl, I can keep your water cold and I can also keep that coffee hot! I’m magical in my own way!”

I’m not like you, and you’re not like me. But we can each glorify our Maker when we adopt the mindset of being profusely loved by our Maker.

We can glorify our Creator when, like a dolphin romping in the sea, we plunge into God’s love for us—totally enough, wholly chosen, and confidently placed in a time such as this.

I’ll stop everything I’m doing to watch that dolphin naturally doing dolphin things, loving its dolphin life. In the same way, I’ll stop everything I’m doing to see YOU naturally doing your thing, loving your life.

Ohhhhh, what a beautiful representation of your Creator you are when you keep yourself in His love!

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Today we’re living in the middle of a story that’s already promised an eternal ending, but we’re not there yet. We’re here – in the middle. In the middle of real life with real problems, real threats, real pain. Every day we are closer and closer to what is promised, but we’re not there yet.

Within our Bibles is a story which so sweetly shows us our Jesus standing with us in our real life. He’s not just standing by in Heaven awaiting your arrival at the end of this life – no, he’s right here beside you, walking this out. Let’s read a familiar story with a new perspective.

Jesus had a friend named Lazarus. Lazarus was sick, so his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message for Jesus to come. But, by the time Jesus gets there, Lazaraus is already dead. In fact, he had been in his grave for four days. Jesus meets with Lazarus’ sisters in their grief.

John 11: 32-44, “When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ he asked them. They told him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ THEN JESUS WEPT. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But some said, ‘This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?’ Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ‘Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, ‘Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.’ Jesus respond, ‘Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?’ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go!'”

Question – Did Jesus go there that day knowing Lazarus was dead? Yes. Did Jesus already plan to heal him, even in death? Absolutely. Did Jesus already know how he was going to turn their weeping into sheer joy when he brought life back to this dead body? Yes!

So, why did he still weep?

Answer – because Jesus was still walking through every moment with them. He allowed himself to feel the pain, to know the loss, even while fully knowing the way he was going to work it all out. He already had a plan, but in the ‘not yet’ of the plan, he wept too.

And my friends, that’s where we are – We’re living in the ‘not yet’, but never forget there is a already a plan. A plan which God promises is good. A plan where God will take every intended harm and use it for good. A plan which ends with an eternal paradise spent with Jesus.

Why do some prayers feel unanswered?

Why do good things get taken away?

Why do we go through loss?

Jesus stood at Lazarus’ tomb, with tears running down his face. He KNEW death wasn’t the ending, but he still entered into the pain. He stood there with his friends as they ached, as they grieved. It was already done, already made good in the hands of the Father, already answered, already healed, already restored – BUT NOT YET.

Your prayers have already been answered – but today you’re in the not yet. God already holds those answers for you and he’s so lovingly guiding your every step on the path to those answers. You’re simply on the journey there.

The things that have been taken away, the losses you’ve experienced – God holds them so perfectly, not in punishment, but in His hands. He is not standing at a distance watching you suffer, waiting for you to finally make it to the other side. He is right here in the middle of it with you.

He knows what you don’t know. He sees what you cannot see. He knows what is coming when all you can see is what has already happened.

Every broken thing will be made whole again. The battle has already been won. Today, you hold on to the promise. Already … but not yet.

And sometimes the miracle isn’t that God keeps us from the tomb. Sometimes, like Lazarus, we find ourselves standing in the middle of something that looks completely dead. We don’t understand why He didn’t come sooner. We don’t understand why He allowed it. We don’t understand why the stone is still there.

But Jesus is there. And if Jesus is there, the story is not over.

That’s the hope of the “already, but not yet.” We don’t have to pretend the pain isn’t painful. We don’t have to force ourselves to smile when we’re grieving. We don’t have to act like we understand what God is doing. If Jesus wept, so can you.

But we also don’t have to believe that what we can see is all there is.

Lazarus was dead, but death wasn’t the end. The tomb was sealed, but the story wasn’t finished. Mary was grieving, but joy was already on its way.

Jesus was standing in the “not yet” with them, while already knowing exactly what the Father was about to do. And He still does that for us.

Maybe today you’re standing in front of your own “tomb.” Maybe you’re waiting for healing, restoration, provision, reconciliation, direction, or an answer to a prayer you’ve prayed so many times you don’t even know what to pray anymore.

Don’t confuse “not yet” with “no.” Don’t confuse silence with absence. Don’t confuse what you can see with all that God is doing. You may be standing in the middle of a story that God has already written the ending to.

So we can grieve AND have hope. We can weep AND believe. We can hurt AND trust. Because Jesus doesn’t ask us to skip over the “not yet.” He meets us right there.

And one day, there will be no more “not yet.” There will be no more death, no more crying, no more pain, no more loss. Everything Jesus has promised will finally be fully realized.

Until then, we walk with Him. We trust Him. We keep believing.

And when the road gets hard, we remember: Jesus is already holding the ending, even when we’re still living in the middle. Already promised. Already held. Already His.

But not yet.

I don’t understand the waiting

I don’t understand the pain

But You came into our suffering

You wept

You bled

You stayed

So until You make it right, Lord

I’ll keep whispering through the ache:

Already…

Not yet…

But soon

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Did you know in Jesus’ time of walking this earth and preparing his disciples to spread the gospel and reach the ends of the world with his offer of salvation, he never once taught them how to preach. He didn’t teach them how to organize a mission. He taught them this one thing … HOW TO PRAY. In teaching how to pray, we learn how to surrender to the Father, how to grow in trust, how to ask for his healing, seek his will, and follow his plan. All from the power of prayer.

If Jesus puts this level of importance on prayer, we should too!

He even gives us a way to pray – not a magic formula, but a guide for approaching our Holy God as our Father in Heaven.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one. ‘ ”

Immediately after Jesus shared this prayer example with his disciples, he followed it up with a parable showing HOW TO APPROACH GOD. As we now hear this story from Jesus, remember that’s what we’re learning. This is how we approach God in prayer.

Luke 11: 5-10:

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.'”

Again, what is Jesus teaching us through this story? HOW TO APPROACH GOD. This story can be confusing if you focus on the reluctant sleepy friend who doesn’t want to answer the door. That’s not the focus. The focus is on the man beating on the door at midnight asking. Asking is the point.

The man knocking is not worried about being a nuisance. He’s not worried about being rejected. His need outweighs his embarrassment.

Why do we hesitate to ask God, thinking he might be annoyed by us. We tell ourselves God has so many other more important things to deal with that he can’t possibly have time for our prayers too. Girl – God doesn’t fit in your little box! He’s not limited, he’s not overwhelmed, he’s not stressed, and he’s not annoyed. He created you to need him – Now admit that you do – CONSTANTLY!

Do other people have bigger things they’re dealing with – Perhaps. But this isn’t a competition for the one with the most urgent crisis and the winner receives God’s help. This is an invitation to bring your needs to the Father and be personally attended to every single time.

The man knocking on the door was asking for bread to share with his house guest – it wasn’t a life or death situation, yet he asked. And because he asked, he returned home with bread to share that night. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus would use an example like that? It wasn’t a mother beating on the door of a doctor begging for help for her dying child. It wasn’t a desperate plea for a bucket of water as their house was on fire. It wasn’t a midnight run for safety. It was a midnight run for bread to feed a guest – like a late night trip to the Walmart for a welcome snack to put on the table. THIS IS THE EXAMPLE JESUS USES FOR PRAYER.

Yes, you should ask God for help with what you’re dealing with. Yes, you should ask God to provide for that. Yes, you should ask God to intervene when the situation feels impossible. But don’t wait until your life is falling apart to talk to God. Don’t wait until you’re starving to come knocking – Knock when you only need a little bread for a guest. That’s a little deal. But if you have a big deal, you can still come knocking! Just realize you didn’t have to wait until the need got so big – you could have asked all along.

Ask him about the big things AND the little things. Ask him for wisdom about the decision you’re making. Ask him to help you know what to say in that conversation. Ask him to give you patience with that person who is driving you absolutely bananas. Ask him to provide what you need, even when what you need seems small and insignificant compared to someone else’s crisis.

If it matters to you, it matters to your Father. You don’t have to rank your problems before you bring them to God. You don’t have to clean up your request, make it sound spiritual, or prove that your need is important enough to bother him with. Just ask.

Remember this, we’re not dealing with a reluctant God. The friend in this story was reluctant. He was sleeping. He didn’t want to answer the door. He was bothered. THAT IS NOT OUR GOD. God is not reluctant – because he’s not sleepy – he’s not busy – he’s not annoyed. God says in Isaiah 65:24, “While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” Does that sound like a reluctant God? NO – not at all.

So the man keeps knocking, keeps asking, and his persistence finally works – the reluctant, sleepy, annoyed friend finally opens the door and gives him the bread. And here’s the point: IF PERSISTENCE WORKS WITH A RELUCTANT HUMAN, HOW CERTAIN CAN WE BE OF A WILLING GOD?

Jesus shares this story to encourage us to approach God with honest, unashamed persistence. Don’t be distant. Don’t be hesitant. Don’t be ashamed to ask. Don’t wait until you think the time is right. Go to God and ask – then ask again – and again – and again.

Jesus uses the term, “shameless persistence” – girl get you some of that in your conversations with God. Be absolutely shameless in going to Him again and again. Stop worrying about being too much. Stop worrying about bothering God. You know he has what you need – ASK HIM!

That’s how Jesus is teaching us to approach God.

Not timidly. Not reluctantly. Not wondering if we’ve bothered him enough already. We come boldly, persistently, confidently—not because God is reluctant to help us, but because he is our Father and he has invited us to ask.

Prayer isn’t about convincing God to care. Prayer is about trusting the God who already does.

Now, let’s read the final 3 verses as Jesus is teaching his disciples about prayer. Verses 11-13, “You fathers – if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

I’ve always focused on the snake and the scorpion here – completely overlooking what Jesus is telling me to ask the heavenly Father for. What does he say? “How much more will your heavenly Father give the HOLY SPIRIT to those who ask him.”

Girl, ask God for his Holy Spirit! Ask him to fill you with his spirit. With his spirit, you begin to change from the inside out. You are filled with power and directed with purpose. You aren’t left trying to muster up the patience, the wisdom, or the strength on your own. He hands you the ultimate source of comfort and guidance.

When you get the Holy Spirit, you don’t just get an answer to a prayer – you get the Answerer Himself living inside you!!!!!

Think about it: Jesus shifted the whole conversation from a loaf of bread to the third person of the Trinity. He started with a guy asking for a midnight snack for a guest, and He ended with a Father overflowing with His very presence for you. Why? Because God knows that what we need most in this life isn’t just our physical requests met. What we need most is Him.

When we ask for a little bit of bread to handle our immediate problems, God looks at us and says, “I will give you that, but I want to give you so much more. I want to give you My Spirit.”

Do I need bread for today? YES, that would be great!

Do I want the Holy Spirit for today? OH MY GOODNESS, YES!!!!!! I get God himself within me! I get supernatural peace, I get divine wisdom, I get the fruits of the Spirit growing within me, and I get this boldness to keep knocking on heaven’s door without an ounce of shame.

So, stop overthinking your prayers. Stop holding back because you think your request is too small, or because you think you’ve asked too many times. Your Heavenly Father is sitting on the edge of His seat, waiting to hear your voice. He isn’t asleep, He isn’t annoyed, and He certainly isn’t going to hand you a scorpion.

Go to Him today. Knock loudly. Ask boldly. And most of all, ask to be filled fresh with His Holy Spirit. He is ready and excited to open the floodgates.

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One day while Jesus is teaching, an expert in religious law asks a question – “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life.” Today we think of eternal life solely as life after death – heaven. But this word ‘eternal’ was used as a particular QUALITY of life that comes from God. Eternal life was a life that could be had living right here and right now when living God’s way.

This man was asking Jesus, how do I get God’s quality of life? How do I live better? The answer was, “you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind – AND – Love your neighbor as yourself”. And then Jesus is asked an important question – WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

It’s an honest question. If I’m going to follow Jesus’ instructions to love my neighbor as myself, I first need to understand who my neighbor is – then I need to understand what it would mean to love them as myself. And that’s where our next parable comes in.

To explain who our neighbor is and how we are supposed to love them, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10: 30-37:

“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

So here we have a Jewish man who is attacked and left dying beside the road. The locals see him and walk by. They’re not only locals, but one is a priest and one is a temple assistant – they literally work for God – but they pass by the man in desperate need and don’t get involved. Then comes a “despised Samaritan”.

To really understand this story, you have to understand why he would have been despised. A Samaritan was from the region of Samaria. Samaritans and Jews had a long history of hostility. They had deep religious and cultural differences, and there was tremendous prejudice and mistrust between them. They didn’t associate with one another the way you might expect neighbors to. So when Jesus tells a story about a Jewish man in need and makes a Samaritan the one who stops to help him, there is serious shock factor.

The most unlikely one was the neighbor. The outsider was the neighbor. The one who was different and disliked was the neighbor. The one kept at a distance was the neighbor.

And the people who saw the need, crossed to the other side of the road, and kept walking? They were not acting like neighbors.

Remember, the original question was, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus turns that question completely upside down. The question isn’t simply, “Who qualifies to receive my love?” The better question is, “Am I willing to become a neighbor to the person in front of me?”

And that brings us right back to the command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” My friends, how many times are we failing to love our neighbors as ourselves?

And is it because we don’t know how to first love ourselves? Nope. That’s cheap. Don’t settle for that answer. This isn’t a self-love message. Quite honestly, most of us are so totally selfish, so completely wrapped up in our own feelings and desires that we only think of ourselves.

Here’s the truth – you know how to care about yourself. You know how to make sure you have food to eat. You know how to protect yourself. You know how to make sure you’re comfortable. You know how to avoid things that inconvenience you. We really don’t have a problem loving ourselves.

We have a unique way of making everything about ourselves. We take the command of loving others as ourselves and twist it into a self-love lesson on putting ourselves first so we can then love others better. Don’t twist this.

Jesus is simply telling us to take that same concern we naturally have for ourselves and extend it outward. Loving our neighbor as ourself is having the same concern for others as we do for ourselves. We care about us eating dinner – we should care about them eating dinner. We care about us being warm – we should care about them being warm.

The Samaritan didn’t just notice the man’s need. He allowed the man’s need to interrupt his own life. That’s the part that gets me.

The Samaritan was traveling this road because he had somewhere to go. This wasn’t a road you just took a joy walk on. He wasn’t out getting in his steps. He had things to do. He had his own life. And yet, when he saw someone hurting, he stopped. He got close. He got involved. He gave his time. He gave his resources. He gave his attention. He gave what he had.

He’s the neighbor. He’s caring. He’s loving.

Love isn’t always convenient. In fact, sometimes love is wildly inconvenient. Sometimes loving your neighbor means crossing the road instead of crossing your arms. It means noticing instead of ignoring. It means stopping instead of rushing. It means getting involved when it would be easier to mind your own business.

Imagine the excuses the first 2 people had walking by this man laying on the side of the road bleeding to death. Maybe justified excuses. It was dangerous. They weren’t medically trained to save a life. They didn’t know how to help.

Wow – how many times is that our leading excuse for not stopping, for not getting involved – I just don’t know how to help. What – girl, you don’t know how to just CARE about someone else? Jesus knows better.

And sometimes the person God is asking you to love isn’t the person you naturally like. That’s the whole point of the Samaritan.

Jesus wasn’t impressed by proximity to God. The priest was close to the temple. The temple assistant worked in the temple. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the commands. But when love required something of them, they walked away.

The Samaritan may have been the last person anyone expected Jesus to put in the hero role, but he understood something the religious insiders had missed: Love doesn’t just know what is right. Love does what is right.

We get so hung up on “who is my neighbor” – here’s the better question – “Who is God putting in front of me that I am tempted to walk past?”

Who is hurting that I’ve learned not to notice? Who is difficult that I’ve decided isn’t my responsibility? Who is different from me that I’ve kept at a distance? Who is inconvenient? Who requires more of me than I’m comfortable giving?

Love your neighbor. Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when they’re different. Even when they wouldn’t be your first choice. Even when you don’t get anything back.

I know we can’t help everyone. I know our job isn’t to save everyone. I know sometimes it’s even dangerous to get involved. So how do we know? Really, on a practical level, how do we get started with this?

I read this quote by Spurgeon, “When we see innocent people suffering as the result of the sin of others, our pity should be excited.” Maybe this is a good way to start getting involved. Is that an innocent person suffering as a result of the sin of someone else – STOP AND CARE ABOUT THEM.

We don’t have to run after every need we see. However, when we see the innocent suffering, we are supposed to get involved! And what do we receive as a result? Remember where this story started? It started with the question of eternal life. The word ‘eternal’ here meaning God’s kind of life – a God QUALITY life. Here it is! Care about your neighbor – the innocent one in need right in front of you.

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Sometimes, to understand the meaning of a story Jesus told, you have to back up and understand the entire scene. For today’s parable, we can’t just jump into the story without looking at what happened right before it. The situation leading up to the parable is actually the key to understanding why Jesus told it in the first place.

So, before we get to the story, let’s back up a little. What was happening? Who was Jesus talking to? What had just unfolded? And what was Jesus trying to teach them?

Luke 7:36–50 has four parts: the setting, the problem, the parable, and the point. And when you put all four pieces together, you see that Jesus wasn’t simply telling a story about a sinful woman and a judgmental Pharisee. He was exposing something much deeper – the condition of the human heart.

Let’s start with the setting.

Jesus has been invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. While they are eating, a woman with a reputation for being sinful enters the room. In fact, scripture calls her a “certain immoral woman”. She brings an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, stands behind Jesus, and begins to weep. Her tears fall onto His feet, and she wipes them with her hair. Then she kisses His feet and pours the perfume over them.

Can you imagine the scene?

This woman walks into a room where she knows she is not exactly welcome, and she goes straight to Jesus. She isn’t concerned about what everyone else thinks. She isn’t trying to defend herself or explain her past. She simply comes to Jesus with a heart full of something – love, gratitude, repentance, desperation. And she pours it all out at His feet.

But the Pharisee is watching.

Here’s the problem:

Instead of seeing a woman who has come to Jesus, the Pharisee sees a woman who doesn’t belong in the room. It says, “When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘if this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!'”

He has elevated himself to be better than this woman. Not only that, he is critical of her worship.

What comes next you can’t miss. Verse 40, “Then JESUS ANSWERED HIS THOUGHTS. ‘Simon,’ he said to the Pharisee, I have something to say to you.'” Notice the Simon hadn’t spoken a word about this woman, he had only been thinking these thoughts. But Jesus KNEW his thoughts and he addressed them. My friends, it really isn’t just about what you say, it is what you think and how you feel in your heart. Jesus knows – and he has something to say about it!

Now, the parable, verses 41 & 42:

“Then Jesus told him a story. ‘A man loaned money to two people – 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?’

Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.’

‘That’s right,’ Jesus said.

Now, the point:

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

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.’

————

Want to dig deeper with me? This immoral woman with a reputation is believed to perhaps be Mary Magdalene, who was likely a prostitute. It took so much courage for her to show up at a Pharisee’s house where she knew she would be judged. But absolutely nothing could stop her love for Jesus.

When the Pharisee saw her, all he could see was her sin. And while Jesus was fully aware of her sin, he saw her love, her repentance and her devotion. There’s a saying that Satan knows your name but calls you by your sin – God knows your sin but calls you by your name. What a reminder for our hearts – how are we calling people? Is it all about what they’ve done, or can we remember WHO they really are? Who they were created to be. How God sees them.

Jesus knew this woman. He saw her heart, just as he saw the Pharisee’s heart. Why did she love Jesus so much? Well, think about this perspective for a moment – this likely wasn’t their first encounter. Before this dinner, Jesus had probably encountered her privately. We read in Luke 8 about the women who joined the 12 disciples in following Jesus – one of them was Mary Magdalene whom he had cast out seven demons. We never see the actual encounter of Jesus casting out these demons from Mary Magdalene, we just know it happened.

So, wouldn’t it make sense if this immoral woman with a bad reputation at dinner that night was Mary Magdalene – a woman who had experienced forgiveness, a woman who had been set free from the torment of seven demons, a woman whose life had been radically changed by Jesus – now comes boldly to the Pharisee’s house to thank Jesus. Doesn’t it make sense that she wasn’t letting anyone get in the way of her worshiping the one who had forgiven her for so much?

She was a humble sinner pouring out her love for Jesus, knowing she had been forgiven – and guess what – that was awkward for others. It was an awkward scene at the dinner table. Jesus is sitting there trying to eat and here she is crying all over his feet and wiping her tears up with her hair.

My friends, she is worshiping with a heart that is truly aware of what Jesus has done for her. The debt he has forgiven her of. The absolute life change he has made for her. The freedom she now walks in only because of him. He welcomed her praise.

Why are we so afraid to be real with what Jesus has done for us? Why would we tone down our praise or dial back our worship? Hey, if you haven’t saved my soul, then I’m not going to let you stand in the way of me praising the one who has! If it’s awkward for you, I’m sorry because this isn’t about you or anyone else in the room. It’s about Jesus.

And here’s the thing: the woman wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She wasn’t putting on a show. She was responding to what Jesus had done for her. Her worship flowed from her awareness of her forgiveness.

That is the point Jesus was making with Simon.

The issue wasn’t that the woman was a really bad sinner and Simon was a pretty good guy. The issue was that the woman knew she needed forgiveness, and Simon the Pharisee didn’t seem to realize how much he needed it too.

Simon looked at her and thought, She’s a sinner. Jesus looked at her and saw someone who had been forgiven.

Simon looked at her past. Jesus saw her heart.

Simon was focused on how much sin was in her life. Jesus was focused on how much love was flowing from her life.

But what if, sometimes, we’re a little more like Simon than we’d like to admit? What if we have become so familiar with grace that we’ve forgotten what we’ve been forgiven of? What if we look at someone else’s mess and somehow forget that we have our own? What if we have quietly elevated ourselves – not because we would ever say, “I’m better than you,” but because somewhere in our hearts, we have started thinking it?

That’s the danger of self-righteousness. It doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it just sits quietly at the dinner table.

Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts, and He knows ours, too. He sees the thoughts we never say out loud. He sees the judgments we hide behind a smile. He sees the pride we don’t even recognize as pride. And He doesn’t expose our hearts to shame us. He exposes them because He wants to change them.

The woman came to Jesus fully aware of her need. Simon was sitting inches away from Jesus and didn’t seem to realize his need at all.

One walked away forgiven.The other was left to wrestle with what Jesus had just revealed about his heart.

How aware are you of your need for Jesus? Because the more deeply we understand what we’ve been forgiven of, the more deeply we’ll love the One who forgave us.

The woman didn’t worship Jesus because she was perfect. She worshiped Him because she knew she wasn’t. She knew her debt was great – and she knew her Savior was greater.

And that’s us, too. We don’t come to Jesus because we’ve cleaned ourselves up enough to deserve Him. We come because we know we need Him. We don’t worship because we’ve earned His goodness. We worship because we’ve experienced His grace.

So don’t let shame keep you from Jesus. Don’t let someone else’s opinion keep you from Jesus. And don’t let your own pride keep you from recognizing how much you need Jesus.

Come to Him with your whole heart. Come with your gratitude. Come with your repentance. Come with your mess. Come with your worship.

And when you really understand what He has forgiven you for, what He has rescued you from, and what He has done in your life, don’t be surprised if your worship gets a little awkward. Let it. Because sometimes the people who look the most ridiculous at the feet of Jesus are the ones who understand the most clearly just how much they have been forgiven.

The story ends with verse 50. Reading from TPT, Jesus says to the woman, “Your faith in me has given you life. Now you may leave and walk in the ways of peace.” If this woman was indeed Mary Magdalene, she likely went from living a sinful life as a shameful prostitute, to walking closely with Jesus for the rest of his life, right up to the cross.

Wow – if Jesus can change her life, can’t he change yours?

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