I was inspired to write today’s post after reading an article about an evangelical pastor in Las Vegas, who, from the death of her son, found a way to lead dozens of other people to salvation through faith in Jesus.
Forgiveness can be a hard pill to swallow because it demands humility and the grace of God. In an article in Outreach Magazine from January & February of this year, Jayne Post talks about the day she came home to find that her 16 year-old son had been accidentally killed on his bicycle by a 16 year-old driver, who happened to be one of his classmates. The story instantly impacted me because a similar incident had happened to two boys from my high school years back.
At her son’s funeral, Post was confronted by Tommy, the driver of the car. He apologized for what had happened and she handed him her son’s ring and said, “This is so you know that I forgive you and God loves you. It was a terrible accident, and if you could take it back, you would. I know you would.”
After that encounter, Post and Tommy met regularly… and on the one year anniversary of her son’s death, she helped 24 kids (including Tommy) come to know faith in Jesus. She even took her story of forgiveness to a Valentine’s banquet soon after her son’s death and led 30 women to faith in Jesus as well.
This touching story shows just how positive the power of forgiveness can be. I was always taught that forgiveness was less for the person that you are forgiving, and more about the peace that you will find in yourself.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” -(Matthew 5:7) 7