Grace Did It For Me

Today I want to talk about grace. I guess you've all heard this word, but do we all know its meaning? As a Christian you would probably know what this means, but what if you're not a Christian and this means nothing to you? I want to begin by taking you back to the loss my family shared... What if like my family, you went through a horrific loss and someone was responsible for the hurt, would you so easily find it in your heart to forgive the one who committed that ghastly thing? Let me ask you this, would you do it without grace? I believe that the answer is a big no. And this would go for anyone who has lost a loved one in whatever circumstance...

Today, and by good chance I watched the movie, "Amish Grace" based on a true story that happened in October 2006. I don't know if you all know about this story that took the world by surprise; and it isn't really the killing of eight innocent children that shocked everyone, it's what they did when it happened.

A gunman stormed an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania where he took hostage and shot eight out of the ten girls before himself committing suicide. Unbelievable isn't it? The movie is told in the eyes of a mother of one of the girls who could not at all find it in her heart to forgive the gunman while the rest of her community including her husband seemingly were able to. And they were not only willing to forgive but also to be reconciled even with the family of the murderer and to quote them.. "for they too had suffered a loss."

Let me pause there for a minute and let you reflect on that... here is a community standing on their belief that God asks us to forgive others because He forgives us too (Matthew 6:14, 15). And then there is a mother hurting desperately because she has lost her beloved daughter in the hands of a murderer. Wouldn't you also think that this mother was justified to not want to forgive? I think so...but what about her people, are they right by choosing to forgive this man who had done so much harm?

The answer lies in grace. What is grace... God's grace? Well, simply...it's "the unmerited favor of God to those who do not deserve it." Ring a bell there? Isn't that what God Himself did for us more than two thousand years ago when he sent His Son to die for our sins that we may be reconciled back to Him? So basically, what those men and women of the Amish community were able to do is something that we are called to do because well, it was done for us and still is today. And what may you ask did they gain by forgiving such an "unforgivable" act? Well, I say, for one, by forgiving and this should not be confused for forgetting, they were able to have peace in their hearts for if they held a grudge on that man, the hate would consume their souls like it did him.

So now I guess you're beginning to understand how I and my family (and whoever else has faced such circumstances) were able to forgive this man who took away so much from us. We did it not with our own strength, for that is impossible...we just gave this hate and hurt all to him and surrendered to Him that He may be our avenger. And now many many days later, I remember how God's grace did it for us, and still does and His grace can do it for you too, you just need to ask of it.