by Dr. Paul Chappell

"And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

Luke 7:40-50

Every time we point at others, we have three fingers pointing back to ourselves.

While Simon questioned Jesus and condemned the woman for her sins, Jesus stopped him and told a parable to all who were at the dinner. He told of two men who owed money to the same man. One of the men owed five hundred pence; the other owed fifty. (Once pence was a day's wage.) The creditor, realizing the two men could not repay the debt, freed both of them from their debts. They were off the hook.

Then Jesus asked Simon which man would be most thankful for the creditor's benevolence. Simon correctly stated that the one who had more to pay, for surely he knew he could never earn enough to pay the man back. Jesus then related the parable to the current situation. Simply because the woman who had worshipped Him was a great sinner did not mean she loved Christ any less. In fact, she had more reason to love Christ for He had forgiven her of great sins.

Jesus then stated that while Simon was judging this woman's actions, she had done more than Simon had done even though he was the host of the dinner. Simon had not washed His feet (as was customary in that day). He had not kissed Him in welcome (as was also custom). Simon did not even anoint Jesus' head upon arrival. While Simon criticized others, he had neglected to perform the customary duties of a host.

Place yourself in Simon's spot. How often have you criticized others while not doing anything yourself? It's easy to point out a person living in sin, yet is it easy to point out your own sin? As the saying goes, every time you point at someone else, three fingers are pointing back to yourself.

Sometimes we can be like Simon. We judge people for their sins and condemn them for doing things we would never do, yet fail to see our own failures. God does not rank sins higher than others. Sin is sin in His eyes. So while we look to others for their "greater" sins, God sees the sins of our own hearts.

Spend a minute right now looking at your heart. Is there sin you've overlooked while condemning others? Have you had a judgmental or condemning spirit toward other people? God desires that you would look to your own self and focus on keeping a clean heart. Don't let the devil distract you with the sins of other people, but keep your eyes on your own heart and ask God to help you keep a clean heart before Him.

To learn more about the ministries of Lancaster Baptist Church and Pastor Chappell, please visit lancasterbaptist.org, paulchappell.com, or follow him on twitter.

Daily Bible Reading
Esther 6-8 | Acts 6