The only thing tougher than forgiving the teenage Crip who murdered Mr. Jefferson’s son, Alonzo, in a drive-by shooting in Washington D.C.’s economically depressed inner-city was when Mr. Jefferson decided to adopt the confessed murderer and bring him into his home with all the honor given to his own deceased son.
For my close friend “Ad” Coors to gain the courage to completely release the bitterness and forgive the man who murdered his dad in cold blood was a monumental accomplishment, but the greater accomplishment was when “Ad” went to the prison to find the man who robbed him of many wonderful years with his dad and actually apologize to the man for holding that bitterness against him.
The United States figure skating champion burst into tears of exhilarating victory as he publicly thanked Jesus Christ for the strength to succeed. The crowd roared in thunderous approval for it was that champion who in the previous year had suddenly lost his father, his brother and two coaches to untimely deaths. The champion was evidently free enough of any harboring of bitterness towards the sovereign God, who makes “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose”, to achieve his life’s greatest performance.