Leadership Thought: What Will You and I Learn from Charlie Kirk's Death?

Dear Friends,

Those who witnessed the funeral of Charlie Kirk yesterday witnessed an event they will never forget'

If you watched it, you would recall the powerful and moving testimony of Charlie's wife, Erica, who shared those three powerful words "I forgive him."

Shortly after the service, I received the following test from a friend who also watched the service. He described Charlie this way: "He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. "President Trump said, before diverting from his transcript-" "That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don't want the best for them."

As I thought about those words I thought of a recent comment from a friend I know who was recently struggling with the actions of a family who had severely hurt her. She said to me "I can't help it, but I just feel like hating them for what they did to me."

In the final words of my friend who texted me, he asked. "What would Jesus say?"

We all know the answer. Jesus would say, as he did many times, we are to love our enemies, and we are. to  pray for them and we are to forgive them.

Now I agree that this is no easy task to forgive those we perceive to be our enemies, and that no one knows how they would respond in a similar situation as Erica did in responding in love to her enemy. 

But one thing I do know is that unless you have fully understood and experienced the love Jesus has for us, sinners that we are, a love that would take Him to the cross to die for those sins, he/she has no earthly power great enough to respond in love as Erica did-

Holding on to hate, resentment and bitterness will destroy you. It will eat away at your heart.

As it has been said, "Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

Unless you and I learn and live out this lesson of Christ's forgiveness, and unless our politicians on both of the aisle learn and live it, we will all be doomed to die of the same poison we drink.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom