By Chris WittsMonday 22 Jun 2015Morning Devotions with Chris WittsCultureReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Chris Carrier of Coral Gables,Florida,was abducted when he was ten years old. His kidnapper,angry with the boy’s family,burned him with cigarettes,stabbed him numerous times with an ice pick,then shot him in the head and left him to die in the Everglades. Remarkably,the boy survived,though he lost sight in one eye. No one was ever arrested. Recently,a man confessed to the crime. Carrier,now a youth minister at Granada Presbyterian Church,went to see him.
He found David McAllister,a seventy-seven-year-old ex-convict,frail and blind,living in a North Miami Beach nursing home. Carrier began visiting often,reading to McAllister from the Bible and praying with him. His ministry opened the door for McAllister to make a profession of faith.
No arrest was forthcoming; after twenty-two years,the statute of limitations on the crime was long past. In Christian Reader (Jan/Feb 1998),Carrier said,’While many people can’t understand how I could forgive David McAllister,from my point of view I couldn’t not forgive him. If I’d chosen to hate him all these years,or spent my life looking for revenge,then I wouldn’t be the man I am today,the man my wife and children love,the man God has helped me to be.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote a book called “No Future Without Forgiveness”,and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. He said in his book “there is no future without forgiveness”. And he is right. He also said “God’s love for each of us is unchanging. He does not give up on anyone. But we each have the capacity to do wrong.” So,we are all in need of God’s forgiving love. Forgiveness is the key to peace in our world,and for us personally.
Let’s try and not be people of revenge.
• Ephesians 4:31─32
We should live without hatred burning in our heart. Matthew 5:39 says “do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you”. We do not have the right to hate someone else. We must love them,even if we feel like despising them for their actions. It is God’s law we must obey,Romans 12:17─21.