The American Soldier
He
was an American soldier in a North Vietnamese prison camp. Stripped of all dignity,
he and the other soldiers were routinely beaten. Not only the floors, but the
walls of the buildings were smeared with the blood of the prisoners.
Most of the prison guards were violent, hate-filled men. But of all of them, Big Ug was the worst. For some reason, Big Ug delighted in being particularly vicious to the American soldier. As a result, the soldier's heart grew cold. Hate was returned with hate.
One day the soldier came to his senses and realized that this hate was destroying him - was turning him into the very thing he hated most. Forcing himself to feel love and pain, he began to imagine his young daughter. He would concentrate intently until he could see her small, precious form in front of him. Wrapping her tiny arms around his large frame, she would say, "Daddy, I love you." His hate-encrusted love-frozen heart slowly began to thaw.
As his heart warmed, he realized he couldn't heal completely until he forgave those who had treated him worst. He began to think of the cruel Big Ug and to superimpose this image of his daughter with outspread arms upon the image of the vengeful prison guard.
"Twice a day for three years, he practiced this vision of love until he actually began to feel sorry for his captors. 'By forgiving Big Ug, there's no way he could destroy me. I couldn't hurt myself or my loved ones over him.'"
The man in the story is POW Col. Laird Guttersen. The story is told in the November 1999 issue of The Toastmaster.
For if you forgive others the wrongs they have done, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, then the wrongs you have done will not be forgiven by your Father.
As Christians, do we practice forgiveness? Or are our churches split by conflict, our families torn apart by bitter tongues.
Maybe we should ponder what Col. Laird Guttersen did. How can we not forgive others when we ourselves have been forgiven?
When confronting a person who treats us with derision and malice, let's imagine the one who loves us most. Think of Him with outstretched arms, the nail prints in His hands, love on His face. And superimpose that image over the picture of the person we just can't love. Let Jesus love that person for us.
If He forgave us, can we refuse to forgive someone that He also died for?
Whom do you need to forgive?
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