The implications are staggering. The statement is simple enough to understand but what it implies goes to the very core of our being.

The words were uttered to a woman with a sordid past, yet she made no pretense as to her sinful lifestyle. Rather, she displayed genuine sorrow as she sought the ultimate solution to her life of sin. Release from the bondage of her past was found in the simple statement, "Your sins have been forgiven" (Luke 7:48).

Perhaps Jesus' pronouncement doesn't carry the same weight with us because our sins don't carry the same weight as the woman's. While she had lived a sinful life of prostitution and adultery, many of us have lived relatively 'good' lives. We may not see our sin in the same light as hers.

I certainly don't want to dwell on what God has forgiven through Jesus my Savior, but if I don't truly come to terms with the horror of my sins I'll never truly live in the grace of God through Jesus. The "hall of shame" in my life involves dark and evil thoughts, hurtful actions and behavior, and frightening lovelessness and apathy. My outward actions may not begin to compare with the sinful woman who came to Jesus, but my inner sinful thoughts carry the same weight in the eyes of God as her actions.

There is a scene in the classic movie, "Forest Gump", in which Lieutenant Dan lashes himself to the mast of a boat in the midst of a storm to fully confront God. Perhaps each of us need such an experience in fully confronting the reality of our sin to truly prepare us to experience the full forgiveness and grace shown in Christ. Stripped of pretense and self-righteous pride, we can truly absorb the most liberating truth of all:

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (Luke 7:50)

Steve