One at a Time by Kyle IdlemanSample

DAY 4

One Word at a Time

Proverbs 18:21; Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 7:36-50

Your words have the power of life and death. So much of loving and impacting people the way Jesus did is about the words we speak. Jesus constantly used words to speak life over others.

In Luke 7 a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to a dinner party. The Pharisees were the religious leaders, and they were all about rules and rituals designed to ensure purity.

In the middle of this party, the town prostitute, who represented everything the Pharisees were against, showed up uninvited, destroying the ritual purity they had established for the evening. She would have known how they viewed her, but she couldn’t help herself. She was undone by Jesus’s love and grace. In another scandalous move, she wet his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume over them. What led her to worship Jesus with such abandon?

Apparently, this woman had heard Jesus speak of love and forgiveness. What did she hear him say? We don’t know for sure, but Matthew recounts Jesus’s teachings from earlier that day: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Can you imagine how that sounded to her?

I don’t know what happened in her life. But I do know that she had grown up into a life filled with words of condemnation…and pointing out her sins didn’t lead her out of them. Shame didn’t set her free. Then one day Jesus said God was for her and offered forgiveness, relationship, freedom, and new life. Later, she heard Jesus was a dinner guest at Simon the Pharisee’s house, so she grabbed her most valued treasure and headed over.

Everyone expected Jesus to rebuke her, but he didn’t. Instead, Jesus told a story and then proclaimed that this woman did what she had because she was forgiven much. Then he blessed her.

What words of life and grace does someone need to hear from you today?