They see your history, but Jesus sees your surrender.

“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” Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭47‬, NKJV‬‬.

There she was, no title, no honor, no defense for her past, just tears. She didn’t walk in with her head held high; she fell, she collapsed at His feet. The very feet she was unworthy to stand before became the place she poured out everything she had left. Her tears were not planned. They were not polished. They were the language of a broken heart finally meeting Mercy.

The room was filled with religion but empty of compassion as the men watched her, not with understanding or hope, but with judgment. Their thoughts spoke loudly in the silence: ‘If He were really who He says He is, He would know what kind of woman this is.’

They saw her history, but He saw her surrender.

They saw her reputation, but He saw her repentance.

They saw her sin, but Jesus Christ saw her heart.

She said nothing with her mouth, but everything with her posture. Every tear said, ‘I’m sorry.’ Every touch said, ‘I believe you can forgive me.’ Every strand of hair said, ‘I surrender my dignity to receive your mercy.’ And heaven answered her, not with rejection or hesitation, but with forgiveness.

‘Your sins are forgiven,’ Jesus said. Oh, what words!

Not ‘clean yourself up first.’ Not ‘explain yourself or prove yourself.’

Just forgiveness.

And the same people who questioned her worth were forced to witness her freedom.

This is the part that many still live today. There will be people in your life who only know the version of you that was broken. They remember your failures, your mistakes. They remember who you used to be, but they cannot see who you are becoming. They whisper in their hearts, ‘If God really knew them?’

Oh, but Jesus does know you! He knows everything, and still He says, ‘Come.’ Because He does not receive you based on their opinion; He receives you based on your surrender to Him.

The men in that room never touched his heart, but her tears did. The men had clean hands, but she had a clean heart, and heaven will always respond to a clean heart.

God sees what others cannot. He sees the nights you cried alone, the prayers no one heard, the war inside you. He sees the change happening in secret. People may remember your past, but Jesus rewrites your future.

Luke 7:47 says, ‘Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.’ Notice that He did not deny she had many sins; He declared they were forgiven.

Your past does not disqualify you when your heart bows before Him.

The feet of Jesus are still open today, not for perfect people, but for broken ones, not for those who pretend, but for those who pour themselves out. Let them misunderstand you; let them question you; let them remember who you were, because Jesus speaks forgiveness over your life. Their opinion no longer has the final word; mercy does, and mercy is still singing over God’s daughters and sons.

By Priscilla Marie, DOTK Community Writer