Characters can be ornery, disobedient, and downright confusing sometimes. Usually, though, they get like this because they're trying to tell me something.
And this weekend, I got a message loud and clear from our old friend, Charles McIntyre.
I have delayed and delayed writing the final book in the Defiance saga because I knew Delilah (Victoria) wanted to come back to town and pay penance for her misdeeds. She is truly sorry and guilt-ridden over Logan's death, and all the men who perished in the mine explosion. But I couldn't see the ending of the story.
Charles hates her so much for her past behavior and the grief she has caused. But I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't forgive her. He, better than anyone, knows that God is in the redemption business. Charles is a new man. He still wrestles now and again with his demons, but he is a new creation. Willing to kill to protect his loved ones, yes, but he's not a murderer anymore.
So, why couldn't he forgive Delilah?
And then the answer dawned on me this weekend.
Oftentimes, when we are converted, saved, born again (whichever phrase you like), we're so in love with Jesus and so humbled that he would forgive us, that we don't look back and see the people we've hurt. We don't empathize. We don't walk in their shoes. We're sorry we've hurt them, but we're more sorry how we've offended a holy God who died for us.
Finally, in an explosive argument with Naomi, Charles blurts it out. To paraphrase, he doesn't want to see Delilah as human. If he does, then he'll have to see all the men he's killed, all the women he prostituted, as humans who could have come to know Jesus. But he stopped them. He was their obstacle. In some cases, he literally damned them to hell by murdering them. It's a heavy weight to bear.
It was a real "Aha" moment for me. The Holy Spirit, through Charles, showed me that complete redemption happens when we see how we've sinned against God, but also against our fellow human beings.
I think it's what Jesus was trying to tell us when he said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
What do you think? Am I on to something here?
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