A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
A Christian leader’s wonderful books on Christian living have sold 15 million copies, and have been translated into 40 languages. He is beloved by conservative Christians for his strong, encouraging, trustworthy biblical teaching. (A “conservative Christian” believes that Jesus is God who became man to die on the cross for our sins so we could be forgiven and go to Heaven. We also believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word without any errors of any kind.)
Last month, this godly Christian leader stunned us with his confession that he had been in an adulterous relationship with a married woman for 8 long years. He asked God for forgiveness of those he had wronged. His wife wrote that she would forgive him because she’d promised on her wedding day to love him “as long as we both shall live.”
What should Christians do when asked to forgive such a repulsive betrayal? God tells us,
And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
So we Christians must forgive this man who has broken so many hearts by his infidelity. Why? Because Jesus forgives us when we ask Him for forgiveness! I am a Christian. I too do wrong and stand in need of forgiveness. I am not a hypocrite. I don’t want to sin. I sincerely love God and want to please Him. But the fact is I do sin, and when I ask Jesus to forgive me, He does. Therefore, for Christ’s sake, I must forgive people who wrong me.
In the sad story of this man’s sin, don’t think he got off scot free. He is forgiven, but he has lost all the precious treasures of his life. He no longer has a ministry. He cannot write another book to bless others. His preaching ministry is gone. His wife has promised to stay with him, but she is devastated. He has Parkinson’s disease, so he needs constant care from the woman he betrayed so callously. Don’t think he “got by” with anything. Sin always has consequences. Even forgiven sin has awful consequences.
I believe there is a terrible warning for every Christian in this sad story. First Corinthians chapter ten lists a number of the sins of the Israelites as they came back home from Egypt. The list ends with this warning,
Now all these things happened to them as examples,
and they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:11,12
Satan wants to destroy good Christians. He takes special aim at Christians in a widely blessed ministry, because their fall will discourage so many. My “take-home” lessons from this spectacular failure are two-fold. I must listen to God’s Word, and listen with all my heart so I will not fall and hurt others. And I must forgive when I am asked to forgive, because I too have been forgiven.