God’s Unlimited ForgivenessSample

Forgiveness beyond human expectations

In the 1950s, Jim Elliot wanted to bring the good news of Jesus to the Huaorani people of eastern Ecuador. For years, Jim studied their language. For months, he made cautious contact by dropping gifts from an overhead plane. Jim and his friends even made face-to-face contact with a small group of Huaorani warriors, which was a friendly and hopeful encounter. But before Jim and his friends could deepen the relationship, the tribe attacked and murdered the men.

But what happened next caught the attention of the world. Elisabeth Elliot, Jim’s widowed wife, after two years of studying the Huaorani language as she grieved Jim’s death, went to live with the tribe that killed her husband. She was so gracious that when her story was turned into a movie, the scriptwriters insisted on making the family less forgiving and more vengeful. Why change the truth of the events? The scriptwriters explained to Elisabeth’s family: “Your mom trusted God. But most people in the world don’t have that.”

The forgiveness of Jesus goes beyond human expectations. The gospel forgives more people for more sins more often than the world would ever imagine. And, once believed, that same gospel compels us to forgive more people for more sins more often than the world could ever script.

Is there a sin you’re holding on to today? A sin you committed? A sin committed against you? “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).