On January 23rd, 1999 Graham Staines and his two young sons Philip and Timothy, were torched to death in their jeep, while they slept. Their dedicated service among the leprous poor of Odisha, India was little known to the outside world until then.

Amid such tragedy, his wife Gladys and daughter Esther amazed everyone. They chose to react not with hate but in forgiveness. Twelve years later when the trial ended, Gladys released a state- ment that said “I have forgiven the killers and I have no bitterness against them … God in Christ has forgiven me and He expects His followers to do the same.”

While it’s astounding that Gladys and Esther found the courage and strength to forgive these perpetrators, we know that Jesus left us the best example of how we can find the grace to forgive those who hurt, offend, or mistreat us.

He didn’t just tell us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (MATTHEW 5:43-48); He modeled extreme forgiveness at the cross. Christ was beaten, mocked, and crucified for our sake even “while we were still his enemies” (ROMANS 5:10). But instead of pronouncing curses over His tormentors Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (LUKE 23:34).

While there’s no excuse for anyone to mistreat someone else, let’s ask God for the grace to release any anger or bitterness we may be feeling. Jesus wants us to live in a healthy relationship with Him and with others. Let’s forgive as we’ve been forgiven by God (MATTHEW 6:12)—walking in love and following Christ’s example.