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\u201cThen He turned to the woman and said to Simon, \u2018Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.\u2019 Then He said to her, \u2018Your sins are forgiven’\u201d (Luke 7:44-48).<\/p>\n
IF THERE\u2019S ONE THING THAT IS OBVIOUS ABOUT LOVE, IT\u2019S THAT LOVE WANTS TO SHOW ITSELF. Love (that is, real<\/em> love) is active. Like a healthy toddler, it can\u2019t sit still for very long. It always wants to be doing something, preferably to act out its desires.<\/p>\n Like faith, love is not only active, it\u2019s willing to take significant risks. The woman in Luke 7, whose love led her to anoint the Lord\u2019s feet with expensive oil, risked several things to show her love. For one thing, she accepted the risk of real loss. The ointment was costly, but wanting to show her love, she was willing to make a sacrifice (suffer an actual, couldn\u2019t-afford-it loss) to do so. But second, she accepted the risk of the disapproval of others. To show her love for the Lord, she pushed past the \u201crespectable\u201d crowd and did something that incurred criticism from those, like Simon, who loved the Lord with nothing more than an official love.<\/p>\n Today, we need to be careful, but we also need to be brave. Love doesn\u2019t give us the right to do anything we please in showing our love for the Lord. We know nothing about what pleases Him except what He has revealed to us in His word, and we dare not disregard the Scriptures in deciding how to show our love. But that said, it\u2019s important for us to be courageous in the desires of our love. All the scriptural correctness in the world will not accomplish anything if it is not carried out in active love.<\/p>\n \u201cThe loving are the daring\u201d (Bayard Taylor). Our lives and our relationship with God would be richer if we loved Him more deeply, dreamed of showing our love more extravagantly, and then demonstrated our faith more boldly and bravely. It\u2019s time we got over our fears: our fear of being hurt and our fear that others will think we\u2019re crazy. What if the woman in Luke 7 had stifled her desire and done the \u201csensible\u201d thing? Well, the world \u2014 and certainly the Lord\u2019s cause \u2014 would have been much the poorer.<\/p>\n \u201cHave the courage of your desire\u201d (George Gissing).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n