Forgiveness

As a widow in Colorado, Mrs. Hanna was filled with hate and bitterness toward the man who had just killed her daughter. She found it absolutely impossible to forgive him after he was captured, found guilty, and sent to prison. She wrote, “All that seemed alive was the hate burning within me.....consuming everything in me that had once responded to love, beauty and laughter.” Eventually, she realized that she was being consumed by hate even though she believed in a forgiving God. She arranged to have a Bible sent to the prisoner with her personal message of love and forgiveness. Previously sullen and morose, the imprisoned man asked the intermediary to tell “Mrs. Hanna that she had given me a gift such as I have never had before....If she could show me such forgiveness, I have hope and faith that God could do the same.” The experience changed his life, and he ended up ministering to other prisoners. Reflecting on the change, Mrs. Hanna observed: “No one had ever told him that he was loved.” Mrs. Hanna herself felt that a great burden has been lifted from her.  Yes....it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.