The incredible power of forgiveness

Do you wrestle with forgiveness? Sometimes I do. I know what Jesus teaches but my spirit still rebels. My "flesh" fights against my "spirit."

Yet there are stories of incredible forgiveness given in far worse situations than I have been in.

One of the most powerful stories of forgiveness I’ve ever heard came out of Tulsa, OK, a few years ago. Tom McGee was a young man who went out for a night of partying & revelry. He got drunk & ran head-on into a car driven by a young man by the name of Ted Morris.

He killed Ted Morris instantly while driving under the influence of alcohol.This wasn’t the first time he had been arrested for drunk driving, so Tom McGee was put on trial for manslaughter, found guilty & sentenced to a term of several years in prison. But the prison was crowded, & prisoners were being given early paroles, so Tom McGee actually spent only a few months in prison before being released on parole.

But he evidently hadn’t learned his lesson, for it wasn’t long until he was arrested again for drunk driving. So his parole was revoked, & he was sent back to complete his prison sentence.Jack Morris, his victim’s father, visited Tom McGee in prison.

After visiting several times, he started taking cookies that his wife, Elizabeth, had baked for him. And they became friends.

Finally Tom McGee was released from prison, but he had no place to go. So Jack & Elizabeth Morris invited him into their home, & gave him a place to stay. They provided the means by which he could receive an education, & helped him find a job.They were members of a Church of Christ in Tulsa, so they took him to church with them, where Tom McGee accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord & Savior, & was baptized for the remission of his sins.

Just recently, the news has come out that Jack & Elizabeth Morris have formally adopted Tom McGee & made him their son. When Jack & Elizabeth Morris die, Tom McGee will inherit whatever they have accumulated in this life. Now that’s forgiveness - an incredible story of forgiveness.