Devotionals for the week of July 27, 2025

Day 1: Seeing Beyond the Surface 

Devotional: How often do we look at someone and only see their mistakes? It's a common human tendency to reduce people to their worst moments or most visible flaws. We categorize them by their sins or circumstances, missing the full person God created them to be. In Luke 7, Jesus challenges this limited perspective when Simon the Pharisee judges a woman who approaches Jesus. While Simon sees only a sinner, Jesus sees a beloved daughter whose heart is overflowing with gratitude for forgiveness received. Jesus asks Simon a profound question that echoes through time to us today: "Do you see this woman?" Of course, Simon physically saw her, but Jesus was asking something deeper. Do you see her value? Do you see her heart? Do you see her as I see her? God invites us to develop spiritual vision that looks beyond surface-level judgments. When we encounter others, especially those society has labeled or dismissed, we have a choice: to see only their mistakes or to see the person God loves. Today, consider who in your life you might be seeing only partially. A difficult coworker? A family member who's made poor choices? A stranger whose lifestyle you don't understand? Ask God to help you see them through His eyes—as someone worthy of compassion, capable of transformation, and deeply loved by their Creator. 

Bible Verse: "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." - Luke 7:44 

Reflection Question: Who in your life might you be reducing to the sum of their mistakes or circumstances, and how might your relationship with them change if you began to see them as Jesus does? 

Quote: Sometimes all we do is we see someone for the sins that they have committed or the situation that they are in.  

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I've judged others based on appearances or past mistakes. Open my eyes to see people as You see them—beloved, valuable, and worthy of compassion. Help me to extend the same grace to others that You've so generously given to me. Amen. 

Day 2: The Debt We All Owe 

Devotional: We all have a tendency to minimize our own shortcomings while magnifying the faults of others. Like Simon in Jesus' parable, we often see ourselves as the debtor who owes just 50 denarii—not perfect, but certainly not as bad as others. This self-deception prevents us from experiencing the fullness of God's grace. When we believe our debt is manageable, we approach God with casual appreciation rather than overwhelming gratitude. We might think, "With some hard work and discipline, I can overcome my flaws and earn God's approval." But the truth Jesus reveals is that we all owe the 500 denarii debt. None of us can repay what we owe to God. Our sin—whether seemingly small or obviously large—creates an insurmountable gap between us and our holy Creator. Recognizing the magnitude of our spiritual debt isn't meant to crush us with guilt but to prepare us to receive the incredible gift of forgiveness. Only when we acknowledge how much we've been forgiven can we respond like the woman in Luke 7, with extravagant love and gratitude. Today, resist the urge to compare your sins to others or to minimize your need for grace. Instead, honestly acknowledge your complete dependence on God's mercy, and let that awareness fuel your worship. 

Bible Verse: "When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" - Luke 7:42 

Reflection Question: In what ways might you be minimizing your own need for God's forgiveness while judging others more harshly for their sins? 

Quote: We all like to think of ourselves as the one who owes 50. But until we start viewing ourselves as the one who owes the insurmountable debt, the one who owes the 500 denarii, we will always have the reaction of Simon. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I've minimized my own sin while judging others. Help me to see the true magnitude of what You've forgiven in my life, and let that awareness fill me with humility and gratitude. May I never take Your grace for granted. Amen. 

Day 3: Uncontrollable Love 

Devotional: The woman in Luke 7 displays a kind of love that makes religious people uncomfortable. She weeps openly, touches a rabbi's feet, lets down her hair in public, and pours out expensive perfume without reservation. Her actions weren't calculated or measured—they flowed from a heart overwhelmed by gratitude. Why did she respond this way? Because she understood something Simon didn't: the magnitude of what she'd been forgiven. Her extravagant display wasn't about earning approval but expressing genuine thankfulness for grace already received. Many of us approach our relationship with God with restraint and caution. We've accepted His forgiveness intellectually, but it hasn't transformed our hearts to the point of overwhelming gratitude. We worship politely, pray properly, and keep our emotions in check. But what if God desires the kind of unrestrained love this woman showed? What if our measured response to His immeasurable grace reveals that we haven't fully grasped how much we've been forgiven? Genuine understanding of God's grace doesn't lead to complacency or entitlement. It produces a love that can't be contained by religious propriety or social expectations—a love that might even appear foolish or excessive to others. Today, consider whether your response to God's forgiveness reflects the depth of what you've received. Ask Him to help you rediscover the wonder of His grace and respond with wholehearted love. 

Bible Verse: "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." - Luke 7:47 

Reflection Question: When was the last time you felt overwhelmed with gratitude for God's forgiveness, and how might you cultivate that sense of wonder and thankfulness in your daily life? 

Quote: Until we get to the point where we realize we owe this insurmountable amount, we will never have the reaction of the woman who just loves Jesus so uncontrollably that she can't help herself. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive me for becoming complacent about Your amazing grace. Remind me afresh of the depth of Your love and the completeness of Your forgiveness. Stir in me an uncontrollable gratitude that overflows into every area of my life. May my love for You be evident to all. Amen. 

Day 4: From Gratitude to Grace 

Devotional: When we truly understand how much we've been forgiven, it transforms how we treat others. The woman in Luke 7 came to Jesus already experiencing His forgiveness—her actions weren't to earn grace but to express gratitude for grace received. This sequence matters. Her overwhelming love flowed from her awareness of being forgiven. She didn't love to earn forgiveness; she loved because she was forgiven. Many of us have this backwards. We try to generate feelings of love for God through discipline and duty, hoping our efforts will secure His favor. But authentic love for God springs naturally from understanding the depth of His grace toward us. This same principle applies to how we treat others. When we recognize the magnitude of what God has forgiven us, extending grace to others becomes a natural response rather than a difficult obligation. The person who understands they've been forgiven much finds it easier to forgive much. The one who has experienced God's compassion naturally extends compassion to others. The recipient of undeserved grace becomes a channel of that same grace. Today, let the awareness of God's forgiveness in your life overflow into your relationships with others. See them through the lens of grace rather than judgment, remembering that you and they stand on equal ground at the foot of the cross. 

Bible Verse: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." - Luke 7:50 

Reflection Question: How might your relationships change if you approached each person with the awareness that God sees them as His forgiven and beloved child? 

Quote: This woman already understood the grace and the forgiveness that she had received from Jesus. That is why she is there in the first place, because she understood the depth of her debt that she owed and the amount of grace and forgiveness that Christ gave her. 

Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for Your boundless forgiveness in my life. Help me to extend that same grace to others, seeing them not through the lens of their mistakes but through Your eyes of love and compassion. May the grace I've received flow freely through me to everyone I encounter today. Amen. 

Day 5: Accepting the Gift 

Devotional: The beautiful truth of the gospel is that no debt is too large for God to forgive. In Jesus' parable, both debtors—the one owing 50 denarii and the one owing 500—received the same response from the moneylender: complete cancellation of their debt. Yet some of us struggle to accept this gift. We understand the depth of our sin and feel the weight of our spiritual debt, but we can't believe forgiveness could really be that simple or complete. We keep trying to make partial payments on a debt God has already canceled. Others have accepted God's forgiveness but have grown complacent about it. The wonder has faded, and what was once received with tears of gratitude is now taken for granted. The extraordinary has become ordinary. Jesus invites us to a different response. He calls us to both fully accept His forgiveness and to continually marvel at it—to live in the tension of knowing we're completely forgiven while never losing our amazement that it's true. Whether you're struggling to accept God's forgiveness or have grown numb to its wonder, Jesus extends the same invitation He gave to the woman: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Your debt—no matter how large—can be completely canceled. Your sins—no matter how many—can be fully forgiven. Today, receive this gift with both hands open, and let it transform your heart with gratitude and your life with purpose. 

Bible Verse: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 

Reflection Question: What might be preventing you from fully accepting God's forgiveness or maintaining a sense of wonder about His grace in your life? 

Quote: And so let's go from here this week, seeing others how God sees them and displaying the love, the uncontrollable love that we have for God because of all that he has received, forgiven us. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for canceling my spiritual debt through Jesus. Help me to fully accept Your forgiveness and to never lose my sense of wonder at Your amazing grace. Renew my gratitude daily and let it overflow into uncontrollable love for You and compassion for others. In Jesus' name, Amen.