Love Little or Love Much?

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven - for she loved much.  But he who is forgiven little, loves little. -Luke 7:47

This verse has been running through my head quite a bit for the last few days.  It's something that has struck me as so true of the Christian life.

Jesus here is speaking of a sinful woman who came to the house of a Pharisee with whom He was eating.  She was wiping His feet with her tears, rubbing them with her hair, and anointing them with ointment. 

Now here's the push.  She understood that her her sins were great, as Jesus not-so-subtly noted.  Therefore, because her sins were forgiven, she loved Him much.  She grasped that she was a great debtor in the presence of the One who had forgiven her debts and she could do nothing but overflow with love to Him.

Here's where this has taken root in my life - no one is forgiven little!  All sin makes us guilty before God.  All sin is worthy of His condemnation and wrath.  All sin is a stench to the One who desires nothing but perfection.  Therefore great are all of our sins.  For the Christian who has been forgiven, this means that we have been forgiven much because our sins are extensive.

Greater yet though is the One who has forgiven us these sins.  Therefore we can and should do nothing but overflow with love for Jesus, our Savior.  This love comes out of a great forgiveness given by our great Savior.  In my life I've seen this play out as I have examined the scriptures and have come to learn more and more about the grandeur, greatness, and holiness of God.  In the process, I have come to see how great and subversive my sins are to God and understand how much I have been forgiven.  Love for God has become greater and greater in this great sinner's life.  O how great the forgiveness of Jesus!