Forgiveness
When Kim Phuc first became a Christian, she was stunned by Jesus' words about loving your enemies and blessing those who curse you. She even thought it was a misprint or a mistake in the Bible! But she realized that this is what God wanted her to do, to forgive her enemies. And so she began to compile a list of all her enemies – starting with those who dropped the napalm bombs that changed her life.
Looking at her completed list, Kim thought "Christianity is too difficult." She had no idea how to forgive those who had hurt her so. And she would say to God "Father, you don't understand my pain!" and she would beg Him, "Is there not justice for me to be paid?"
The Weight of Unforgiveness
But over time, Kim realized that her bitterness and unforgiveness was, in her words, "like a cup running over with thick sludgy coffee, so dark that it swallows all light." The longer she tried carrying this sludge in her heart, the more weighed down and burdened she became. One day God spoke to her heart and said that she must pour out the sludge until it was no more.
And so Kim took that list she had compiled and began to bless her enemies and not curse them. As she made a habit of this, she says, God poured that sludge out bit by bit. She writes this: "Sometimes, in a moment of weakness, I would befriend my bitterness again, and like a river raging over the broken dam, my cup would refill with wretchedness and rage. I would sense that level of blackest sludge rising in my soul again and think why did I do that again? The decision to pick back up my pain was never worth it. Forgiveness is always the better path."
The Freedom of Forgiveness
One day she was giving a talk in Washington on Veteran's Day, and afterwards a man came up to her and identified himself as the man who ordered the dropping of the napalm bombs in her hometown that day. He came to her and said "Kim, I am sorry. I am so very, very sorry. Will you forgive me for what I have done?"
Kim reached for his hands, looked deep into his eyes and said "It is okay! I forgive. I forgive!"
Oh my friends, don't let the black sludge of unforgiveness weigh you down! It is a poison that will destroy you day by day. I urge you to go to God with your unforgiveness and pain today, and ask Him to take it away, as you begin to pray for and bless those on your list.
As Kim says, echoing the words of Jesus Himself, forgiveness is always the better path.
