7/7/2023 0 Comments Gratitude scripture![]() ![]() " and each person was instructed to complete the thought in writing or by drawing a picture.Īs each paper was collected and read aloud, President Nelson observed a pattern, he said. Speaking to a BYU devotional audience in 1995, then-Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles related how his wife, Sister Dantzel Nelson, distributed a sheet of paper to each person with the heading, "This year, I am thankful for. Nelson and his wife counted 63 people at their home. If we’ve been Christians for some time it’s easy to forget just how remarkable all this is and consequently the importance of expressing gratitude as a daily practice.For one Thanksgiving feast in the mid 1990s, President Russell M. Luke’s third consecutive story of people regarded as being without privilege–a Gentile, a woman, and a sinner–points again to the radical nature of God’s grace and upside-down kingdom. He offered the bare minimum of hospitality, demonstrating his unawareness of how much he, although outwardly respectable, also needed God’s forgiveness. She knew her need and recognized something special in Jesus, whereas Simon probably had more questionable motives for inviting Jesus to his home. Simon’s small-minded, mean welcome to Jesus (44) is contrasted with the woman’s extravagant actions. It is the person regarded as deserving, the morally upright pillar of society, who is strongly criticized by Jesus. Her gratitude to him just kept overflowing (44-46), and even while this was happening Jesus controversially spoke forgiveness of sins over her (48). All she knew was that the society of the day had deemed her undeserving yet Jesus treated her differently. However, she didn’t care what labels she’d been given. These actions and Jesus’ acceptance of her attentions were strongly criticized by the evening’s host, Simon, a Pharisee (39). ![]() An uninvited guest, a notorious woman, wept as she anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and an expensive ointment that she had probably paid for from her earnings as a prostitute (38). n our reactions to people we can be too quick to judge what is or is not appropriate behavior. In the media there is a lot of talk about deserving and undeserving people. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you go in peace.” Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-as her great love has shown. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ![]() Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. ![]() As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ![]()
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