The Act of Forgiving

 

A feud developed between two families who lived side-by-side in the mountains of Kentucky.  It started when Grandpa Smith’s cow jumped a stone fence and ate Grandpa Brown’s corn.  Brown shot the cow.  A Smith boy then shot two Brown boys.  The Browns shot one Smith.  Bill Brown planned to kill a second Smith, but before he could, he was called away to war.

While he was away, Bill’s mother had a hard time making ends meet for her family, since it was Bill’s father who was one of the victims.

At Christmas, the head of the Smith clan took his family to church.  Usually, he stayed outside, but this year it was so cold he went in to wait.

The sermon was on Christ, the Prince of Peace, who died in our place for our sins.  It hit him hard.  He realized what a crime he had committed, repented and then secretly hired a young boy to carry a basket of food to the Brown’s home every day until Bill returned.

Once home, Bill set out to discover who had so generously helped his family.  He followed the boy to the Smith’s house, where Smith met him and said, “Shoot me, Bill, if you want to.  But Christ has already died for my sins and I hope you’ll forgive me, too.”  Bill did, and the neighbors truly became neighbors again.