When They Hurt Someone You LoveSample

DAY ONE - ROSE'S STORY

Rose’s father was brutally murdered by two men in a parking lot. The murders were caught and arrested; one was sentenced to life in prison, and the other went to death row.

Rose’s heart was filled with bitterness toward them. Eventually, the man on death row died. But 14 years later, Rose met the man who was serving a life sentence.

All those years, Rose knew that Psalm 103 says that God “does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs” (v. 10 GNT). She knew she couldn’t change the past, or control what other people had done, but she could control her response. She could choose to forgive. She knew God doesn’t give us what we deserve, or repay us according to our failures, so she didn’t want to do that with anyone else.

Meanwhile, the man who had murdered her father had accepted the Lord. He felt terrible about having killed someone.

On the day that Rose and her father’s killer faced each other across the visiting cubicle, he told Rose how sorry he was. As he talked, the Holy Spirit moved on Rose and as she said, “I forgive you,” she could see the huge burden lift off of him. His face became lighter, and tears came to his eyes as he thanked her.

It wasn’t until later that Rose realized the same thing had happened to her! When she forgave her father’s killer, she was released from the bitterness she’d been carrying around. She felt a peace and a freedom she hadn’t felt in years.

Forgiving can be like physical therapy on a wounded limb -- it hurts. Sometimes we want to stop because of the pain. But if we stop, the limb won’t get better.

In the same way, if we draw back from forgiving, our own hearts can’t get better. When we choose to forgive, our heart can receive the healing and restoration it needs. As one minister says: “Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner.”

If Rose could forgive what happened to her father, you and I can forgive! We can’t change the past, or control what other people do, but we can control our response. We can leave the hurts and anger behind by choosing to forgive.