Extreme Forgiveness TURKEY: CHRISTIAN WIDOWS Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 It wasn’t the message that the gathered reporters, with their tape recorders and video cameras, expected to hear. Three Christian men had been killed in the offices of a Christian publishing house in Malatya, Turkey. The five young men arrested for the crime said they were protecting their nation and their religion (Islam). And now, here were the widows of the two married Christians who had been slain, standing in front of the cameras and journalists. The women’s message wasn’t one of anger or vengeance. Instead it was forgiveness. “We forgive the killers,” they told the assembled press, even echoing the words of Christ on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” It was on national TV, beaming a living, breathing example of the power of the gospel into countless Turkish homes. And it was effective. A Turkish journalist-a Muslim-wrote of the widows’ example: “The murderers wanted to hinder the activities of missionaries. But what these women have facilitated in a few days by their statements [of forgiveness] is something that a thousand missionaries could not have done in a thousand years.” In the face of persecution, suffering and loss, there is no human explanation for forgiveness. It is a supernatural act that God empowers His children to accomplish. Because of that, it is an incredible witness for Christ. It makes people question themselves, their beliefs and their god. “What would I do in that situation? Would I be able to forgive?” If the answer is no, then seek the Lord, asking him to remind you of the great debt He paid for you on the cross (Matt. 6:12). Is there someone that you need to forgive today? Ask God to give you His strength to do so. Voice of the martyrs
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 10:51:36 +0000
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