Week #4: From Shame to Freedom: When the Gospel Heals
Blog Series Intention Recap
The gospel is not just the good news that saves us—it’s the good news that shapes us. Many believers stop at justification, forgetting that Jesus invites us into ongoing renewal. Each week, we’ll explore how the gospel breathes new life into our growth, peace, love, healing, and mission. The journey doesn’t end at salvation; it begins there.
This post is the main page of the series “Fresh Air.” Click here to see the rest of the posts.
Let’s jump into Week #4:
Your Past Is Not the End of the Story… Jesus didn’t come to condemn us but to restore us. In the story of the sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee, we see how the gospel meets both pride and pain with forgiveness and freedom. Our past doesn’t disqualify us—it becomes the canvas for grace. God’s healing begins when we let His love in. This week, write down one regret or wound you’ve kept hidden. Offer it to Jesus in prayer. Then tell a trusted friend or spiritual mentor what God is doing in you. Freedom begins with honesty.
Why it Matters:
The gospel confronts our past with compassion, not condemnation.
God’s love sees what others shame and still invites us in.
Forgiveness flows from recognizing how much we’ve been forgiven.
Our healing begins when we surrender, not when we pretend.
Go Deeper:
Luke 7:47 (ESV): "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."
The story in Luke 7:36–50 is one of the most striking scenes in Jesus’s ministry. It begins with an invitation to dinner and ends with a declaration of forgiveness.
A Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to his home, perhaps out of curiosity or duty. While Jesus reclines at the table, a woman known only by her reputation enters. She weeps at His feet, wipes them with her hair, and anoints them with perfume.
Everyone knows who she is. Everyone but Jesus seems uncomfortable.
Grace Interrupts Our Shame
This woman knew what it felt like to be judged. She was likely excluded, gossiped about, and dismissed. But she came anyway. Why? Because she had heard about Jesus—and believed His love was greater than her reputation.
Simon is quick to judge: "If this man were a prophet, he would have known what sort of woman this is" (Luke 7:39). But Jesus turns the tables.
Jesus doesn't shame her. He welcomes her. Her tears are not a scandal; they’re sacred. Her presence is not a threat; it’s a testimony.
The gospel does not deny our sin—it defeats its power. Where shame says, "Stay away," grace says, "Come closer."
The Gospel Makes Room for the Broken
Jesus tells a short parable: two people owed money—one much more than the other. Both were forgiven. Which one loves more? Simon answers correctly: the one who had the greater debt.
Then Jesus turns to the woman and does something extraordinary. He contrasts her love with Simon’s lack. "You gave me no water... no kiss... no oil. But she has not ceased to show love."
The point isn’t to embarrass Simon but to awaken him. Gospel healing is available to all—but only the broken will receive it.
Healing starts with humility.
Forgiveness Awakens Love
Jesus says of the woman, "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much" (v. 47). Love is not the payment—it's the proof.
We do not earn God’s forgiveness with emotion or effort. We receive it by faith, and it changes us. Gratitude becomes affection. Forgiveness becomes love.
The woman’s act of devotion flows from a heart that knows mercy. Gospel healing is not just the removal of guilt—it’s the birth of worship.
Psalm 103:12 (ESV): "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Healing Begins When We Surrender
Jesus closes the moment with tender clarity: "Your sins are forgiven... Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (vv. 48, 50).
Peace. That’s what she came looking for. And that’s what the gospel gives.
When we surrender our past to Jesus—our wounds, our pride, our guilt—He doesn’t meet us with cold distance. He meets us with healing love.
Real healing doesn’t come from hiding our shame. It comes from placing it at Jesus’s feet.
How does this help me understand, “Fresh Air?”
Let Grace Rewrite Your Story
Every one of us is either Simon or the woman. Either we hide behind pride or we kneel in humility. The gospel invites us out of hiding.
Jesus does not flinch from your past. He knows it all and still offers you freedom.
That’s the power of the gospel. It takes the places of greatest pain and makes them testimonies of grace. The gospel doesn’t deny your story—it redeems it.
This week, let Jesus speak peace over your shame. Let Him rewrite your story.
Luke 7:50 (ESV): "And he said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'"
