Living Example

This is reported as a true story, but I cannot place its origin. Wherever it is from, it holds a valuable message for us.

~ ESA

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In a country where a non-Christian faith was the dominant religion, there lived a small family of Christians. Despite the harassment from military, government and neighbors, the family never diverged from practicing Christianity. The young woman saw her parents killed, then her brother.

This is her story.

While she didn’t see those who slaughtered her parents, she did look onto the face of her brother’s attacker. She had it burned in her mind. Paralyzed with fear and shock, she could do nothing that night.

Left alone, she continued to work as an aide in the local hospital, so she could earn enough to feed and care for herself.

One day, the man that killed her brother was admitted to the hospital with terrible wounds. She recognized him immediately.

He also recognized her, and realized she knew who he was. Bound in several bandages and lines that helped keep him alive, he had no easy means of escape. He lived in constant dread of this woman, for now he was completely at her mercy.

Day-after-day, he wondered how she would extract her revenge on him. Yet, day-after-day she continued to bathe him, feed him and gently tend to his wounds. He began to recover and grow in strength.

At last, the day before he was released from the hospital, he stopped her ministrations, looked her in the eye and asked, “Why?” He was completely baffled and perplexed by her actions. “Why did you do this? You clearly know who I am and what I did. Why did you help me instead of taking your revenge on me? I was at your complete mercy!”

She smiled and responded. “I do know who you are, and I remember everything. I am a Christian. We are taught to forgive and love our enemies.”

Tears started to trickle down the man’s cheeks. Then he wept openly as he admitted, “I had never known there was such a religion…”