SIN
FORGIVENESS
Write one sentence which demonstrates
how these two words are linked
The following slides contain
stories of forgiveness. Read
through the one assigned
to your group and answer
the following questions.
• Who was involved?
• What happened?
• Describe the type of sin?
• Why did the person choose to forgive?
• What was the result of offering
forgiveness?
• Would you make the same choice if
faced with this situation?
GROUP 1
The chemistry teacher in Libya
Anita Smith and her husband Ronnie moved to Libya because, “We saw the suffering
of the Libyan people, but we also saw your hope, and we wanted to partner with you
to build a better future,” Anita said in a letter published on VergeNetwork.org.
Ronnie was a chemistry teacher in a Benghazi school.
On Dec. 5, 2013, it all ended during Ronnie’s morning jog when he was shot and
killed by an unknown gunman. In Anita’s letter, she addressed her husband’s
attacker, saying, “I love you and forgive you. How could I not? For Jesus taught us to
‘love our enemies’ — not to kill them or seek revenge.”
GROUP 2
The last-minute pardon
In Iran, it is standard practice for families of murder victims to oversee the execution of
murderer of their family member. They are also given the choice to pardon the offender. Such
was the fate of a young man who had already served seven years for killing 17-year-old
Abdollah Alinejad in a street fight, according to The Associated Press.
In May 2014, Samereh Alinejad watched as a noose was slipped around the neck of Bilal
Gheisari, her son’s killer. This was her chance to have the vengeance she’d waited seven years
to have. Instead, she and her husband stepped forward at the last minute and removed the
noose from his neck. Gheisari’s death sentence was commuted and he will finish serving a 12-
year prison sentence instead.
GROUP 3
When Rachelle Friedman’s bachelorette party ended, she and her friends decided to go for a swim.
Playfully, one of her friends pushed Rachelle in, not thinking about how shallow the water was at that
end of the pool. Friedman’s head struck the pool’s bottom and she broke her neck, instantly
paralyzing her from the collarbone down.
Since that fateful push, Friedman’s life has changed drastically, but she was able to go ahead with her
wedding plans and marry her fiancé a year later. And she forgave the friend who pushed her in. “I
love her and have no grudge,” The Daily Beast quoted from a Q&A session Rachelle had on Reddit.
“I’m not saying it’s right, but I’ve horseplayed by a pool and pushed people. I’ve pushed her. What
happened was an accident.”
GROUP 4
The ill-fated grocery cart
Marion Hedges was shopping at the mall for Halloween candy for
underprivileged children when she was hit by a shopping cart pushed from
the second story by two young boys. ABC News reported the woman suffered
a serious brain injury, lost her sight in her left eye, was briefly in a coma and
underwent weeks of physical therapy, but through it all she held no ill will
against the boys.
“I wish them well, I do,” she said. “I feel very sorry for them. My son is 13
also, and he is a very good boy.”
GROUP 5
Scarlett Lewis’ son, Jesse, was killed in the 2012 Sandy
Hook Elementary School shooting, the biggest school
shooting in U.S. history. At first, she said, she felt like her
anger sapped all her strength and energy. She was angry at
the shooter and at the mother for unwittingly arming him.
But she made a choice to forgive.
She told The Forgiveness Project, “Forgiveness felt like I
was given a big pair of scissors to cut the tie and regain my
personal power. It started with a choice and then became a
process.” She urged mourners at Jesse’s funeral to change
their angry thoughts into loving ones, that thereby they
might change the world.
GROUP 6
The stranger’s email
Christy Jones thought her marriage was perfect until the
day she received an email from a woman she had never
met. “You don’t know me, but I am no longer dating your
husband … I’m sorry for any pain I caused your family,”
the email read.
“I felt paralyzed,” Christy told RealSimple.com, recalling
the exact moment she read those words. Battling her
denial, she called her husband at work, and he eventually
admitted it was true. Adrian had had a four-month
relationship with a woman he’d met at his job as a car
salesman.
“Forgiving him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,”
said Christy. “But his honesty made it easier.” The two
later went on to renew their wedding vows, and Christy
said that today, “Our marriage is stronger for it. I have no
regrets.”
GROUP 7
The unregistered car
In June 2009, Dr. Chuck Sandstrom was overseeing the
removal of an unregistered car from a rental property he
owned in Akron, Ohio, when Michael Ayers, the owner of
the car, confronted him. Enraged, Ayers punched Dr.
Sandstrom, whose head snapped back, colliding with the
brick wall behind him.
Sandstrom suffered a traumatic brain injury and
continues to feel the effects of that punch to this day.
However, during Ayers’ trial, Sandstrom and his wife
chose to join the defense, petitioning for a reduced
sentence and access to treatment, work and school during
his jail time.
Of his choice to forgive, Sandstrom told The Forgiveness
Project, “People think we’re special to have forgiven this
man but trust me, my wife and I are not abnormally good
people. What is true, however, is that the path of
forgiveness can take ordinary people on an extraordinary
journey.”
GROUP 8
It was a cold night in February 2007 when the car holding
Chris Williams and his family was hit by a 17-year-old
drunk driver. Immediately, Chris checked on his children
in the back seat and quickly realized his 11-year-old son
and 9-year-old daughter had died. Then as he watched,
his pregnant wife sitting next to him exhaled for the last
time. Meanwhile, Williams was in so much pain he could
barely move his arm to turn off his car’s engine.
However, before he had even been rescued from his car,
Williams told the Deseret Newshe had this thought:
“Whoever has done this to us, I forgive them. I don’t care
what the circumstances were; I forgive them.” He proved
as good as his word, going on to publicly forgive his
family’s killer and developing a relationship with him and
his family. Today, Williams is a motivational speaker,
sharing his incredible story of healing and forgiveness and
inspiring others to extend mercy and forgiveness as well.
GROUP 9
A Widower Forgives
In October 2006, after a long shift at the fire department,
20-year-old Matt Swatzell fell asleep while driving and
crashed into another vehicle. He awoke to “the most God
awful sound” he had ever heard, realizing he had crashed
into June Fitzgerald, who was pregnant and with her 19
month old daughter Faith. Faith survived the crash, but
June and her unborn child did not.
According to Today, Fitzgerald’s husband, a full-time
pastor, asked for the man’s diminished sentence, saying,
“You forgive as you’ve been forgiven.” He meets with
Swatzell regularly and their friendship continues years
later.
GROUP 10
A Child Forgives his Mother’s Killer
When Didier was 11 years old, he witnessed his mother, a
street vendor in Colombia, shot 38 times. This drama led
him down a path of alcohol, drugs, and crime as he
struggled with what he had witnessed. Didier found out
who his mother’s killer was and intended to retaliate, but
after a friend brought him to church, changed his mind.
Instead, he forgave his mother’s murder.
One day, he thought he saw the man sitting on a street
corner and approached him. Didier embraced the man
and told him he had forgiven him.
CAN YOU THINK OF
times in the bible where Jesus
taught us about forgiveness
The Prodigal Son
■ Jesus tells the story of a man who has two sons.
■ The younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the
family estate as an early inheritance. Once received, the son
promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins
to waste his fortune on wild living.
■ When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and
the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He takes a job
feeding pigs. Eventually, he grows so destitute that he even longs
to eat the food assigned to the pigs.
■ The young man finally comes to his senses, remembering his
father. In humility, he recognizes his foolishness, decides to
return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy.
Now for some
Rembrant…
1. Look at the father’s face and
hands. How do you think he feels?
2. Look at the younger son. What do
his clothing and his posture tell you
about him? Why would the older
son not be happy to see his brother
return?
3. Is this painting mostly dark or light?
What parts are mostly light? Why do
you think it was painted like this?
4. Who does the father in the parable
symbolize?
5. Who does the lost son symbolize?
Now for some reading…
Go to http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/prodigalson.htm
Questions for Reflection
1. Who are you in this story?
■ Are you a prodigal, a pharisee, or a servant?
■ Are you the rebellious son, lost and far from God?
■ Are you the self-righteous pharisee, no longer capable of rejoicing when a sinner returns to God?
■ Are you a lost sinner seeking salvation and finding the Father’s love?
■ Are you standing to the side, watching and wondering how the Father could ever forgive you?
■ Maybe you've hit rock-bottom, come to your senses, and decided to run to God's open arms of
compassion and mercy?
■ Or are you one of the servants in the household, rejoicing with the father when a lost son finds his
way home?
2. Think of some times when you have withheld forgiveness or
chosen to hold a grudge.
■ What did you lose/gain from this?
■ Has this impacted on your other relationships (self or others)?
