“But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love” (Luke 7:47, NLT).

     I enjoy attending twelve-step meetings. The beauty of the recovery community is its transparency. To be able to stand in front of a group of people and say, “Hi, I’m Suzy, I’m an alcoholic,” requires humility. By humility I mean self-knowledge that goes public. Self-admitted addicts know their weaknesses, are painfully aware of their past misdeeds, and are willing to share their story of redemption with others. In Jesus’ parlance, they aren’t afraid to share publicly their story because they have been forgiven much.

     One of the cultural teachings that came out of the early twentieth century is that people are not inherently bad. They may make bad choices based on bad experiences or misinformation but their basic character is in no way defective. Reinforcing this ideal does all of us a disservice. If, in fact, we convince ourselves that we have nothing for which to be forgiven, then we have little hope of receiving and expressing true, authentic love.

     Jesus put the matter this way: “But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” I can’t help but wonder if the reason we witness so few expressions of love in our world today stems from the reality that too many of us feel we have no cause to be forgiven. We have assumed a works-righteousness mindset that love is given only to the most deserving among us. Such an assumption is an affront to the gospel’s message and makes a mockery of Jesus’ crucifixion. If there was and is no cause for Jesus to die, then his death was and is for nothing.

     Perhaps, then, the first step to increasing the influence of love in our world today begins at the same place Jesus found the “immoral woman”—on her knees. Hers was a posture of repentance. Hers was an acknowledgement that something was awry with her character. Hers was the first step toward being made whole.

     In 1906, Adelaide Pollard wrote the following hymn that serves as an examination of conscience: