Robert Black was sentenced for yet another abduction, abuse, and murder of a wee girl. I don’t want to name any of them, but I counted four young girls all aged between 5 and 12 years, who died in horrific circumstances, and at the hands of a sexual predator of the worst kind. If you have a young girl in your family, or among your wider circle, you will feel revulsion, and yes even hatred for this subhuman specimen, who cannot be called normal by any standard, or stretch of the imagination. Even the best and most upstanding Christian, must feel a total hatred for this man, right?
When Black was sentenced, the child’s parents spoke outside the courtroom. Their message? That this man actually can be forgiven by a loving God, and accept Jesus as his Saviour, just as their young daughter had accepted her own salvation. These parents are either very, very Godly and live their faith daily, while tested by the most dreadful circumstances, or they are delusional and not thinking straight. I know that the Bible tells us to forgive, and that is the ultimate test of our faith, but Black? Really??
I hesitate to try to put myself in these parents shoes, because I have two treasured daughters, and two lovely granddaughters, but I fear I do not have the grace these parents show towards the man who murdered not only their wee girl, but others besides. He is a multiple abuser and killer of some of the most innocent and vulnerable lives on this earth, and shows no remorse. So, how can we forgive him? How can we do what it commands in the Bible? Are those of us who cannot forgive him, then not really to be seen as Christians? Are we worthy to own the name of Christ, if we cannot forgive the sinner under these conditions?
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