By now you have seen the incredible offer of forgiveness by Erika Kirk to her husband’s murderer.
Her incredible, grace-filled response to the sudden and tragic loss of her husband has been nothing short of a miraculous demonstration of God’s grace.
My wife, Jayne, and I watched her initial reaction to her husband’s death just hours after the news. She was hurting and did not deny or hide her pain. She was forced to acknowledge her unfortunate and tragic new circumstances, and she did so with the strength that only comes from God. And then again on the Sunday of his memorial service, she again addressed the entire country with the grace and strength that finds its source in Jesus alone.
She found the grace to forgive someone who unleashed unbelievable pain and grief onto her household, but she did it.
“On the cross, our Savior said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
That man—that young man—I forgive him.
I forgive him because it’s what Christ did.
And it’s what Charlie would do.
The answer to hate is not hate.
The answer—we know from the gospel—is love.
Always love.”
Jesus tells us that we will all experience storms in our life. Many of you already know what it is to lose a loved one, be betrayed by a spouse, friend or co-worker. Your storm might be health related or financial, but storms are inevitable. Jesus encouraged us in Matthew 7 that those who hear and practice His words their house will stand because it is built on a rock. The rock of faith.
I don’t profess to know the grace that has been given to Erika. To be honest, I am not sure that I could do what she has done, and certainly not that quickly. Suffice it to say, I am moved to dig deeper in my faith, and I hope that you will follow Erika’s lead and do the same.
If you’ve been moved to find out more about Jesus in recent days, you can find out more about how to have a relationship with Him here.
If you’ve made a decision to follow Jesus, please let us know as we would like to help you get started on your journey of faith. God bless you.
Dick Whitworth
Retired Director of Operations, STAR 93.3 | Listen Now
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Thank you for your comments, may we all be so gracious in our time of need, show the love of God and compassion for others.
Barbara,
Thank you for dropping us a note! We are grateful to hear from you.
The subject of forgiveness is a huge discussion and seldom demonstrated so clearly as in Erika’s case. Like you, I hope that I can be so gracious when the time comes again as my track record has not been so exemplary. My report card would say, “talks too much, slow to forgive. Needs work.”
Thanks for listening and for writing!
Dick Whitworth