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And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Matthew 15:26-27
Reflect
If you’re like most people, you have times when you don’t feel like you’re “good enough” for something. We can feel like we’re not smart enough, handsome enough, pretty enough, talented enough or athletic enough. And the world around us does a pretty good job of reminding us just how bad we are at just about everything.
Even worse, we can feel like we’re not good enough for God to love us. And in one sense, that fear touches something true: we’ll never be good enough to save our own souls. But God’s love was never offered because we were good enough. It is offered because He is good.
In today’s scripture, the Canaanite woman doesn’t let doubts, rejection, or social barriers keep her from approaching Jesus and asking Him to heal her daughter. Jesus was sent first to minister to the people of Israel, not to the people of Canaan or the surrounding nations. That is what He is pointing to when He says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
But the woman had great faith. She did not argue that she deserved anything. Instead, she trusted that even the smallest mercy from Jesus would be enough. She knew there was more than enough grace at the Master’s table, and she was willing to receive even the crumbs that fell from it.
Jesus praised her faith and healed her daughter from a great distance.
You may feel unworthy of God’s love, but remember this: God does not love you because you have earned it. He loves you because that is who He is. If you approach the Lord in faith, you will find that His mercy reaches farther than you ever imagined.
Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
