A letter written to a murderer on Death Row by the Father of the Man
who was murdered.
As the Father of the man whom you took part in murdering, I
have
something very important to say to you.
I forgive you.
With all
my
heart, I forgive you. I realize it may be hard for you to
believe, but
I really do.
At the trial, when you confessed to your part in the events
that cost my Son
his life and asked for my forgiveness, I immediately granted
you that
forgiving love from my heart. I can only hope you believe me
and will accept
my forgiveness.
But this is not all I have to say to you. I want to make you an
offer
- - I want you to become my adopted child. You see, my Son who
died was my
only child, and I now want to share my life with you and leave
my riches to
you. This may not make sense to you or anyone else, but I
believe you are
worth the offer.
I have arranged matters so that if you will
receive my
offer
of forgiveness, not only will you be pardoned for your crime,
but you also
will be set free from your imprisonment, and your sentence of
death will be
dismissed. At that point, you will become my adopted child and
heir to all
my
riches.
I realize this is a risky offer for me to make to you. You
might be
tempted to reject my offer completely, but I make it to you
without
reservation.
Also, I realize it may seem foolish to make such
an offer
to one who cost my Son his life, but I now have a great love
and
unchangeable forgiveness in my heart for you.
Finally, you may be concerned that once you accept my offer you
may do
something to cause you to be denied your rights as an heir to
my wealth.
Nothing could be further from the truth. If I can forgive you
for your part
in my Son's death, I can forgive you for anything. I know you
will never be
perfect, but you do not have to be perfect to receive my offer.
Besides, I believe that once you have accepted my offer and
begin to
experience the riches that will come to you from me, that your
primary
(though not always) response will be gratitude and loyalty.
Some would call
me foolish for my offer to you, but I wish for you to call me
your Father.
With love,
God... The Father of Jesus