Col. Tom Kirk spoke Saturday morning at JBC’s Men’s Breakfast. He told his story of being shot down as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and spending over five years as a prisoner of war being terribly tortured. What was amazing was to hear him say that he has no bitterness toward anyone about anything. He said that when he was released from the Hanoi Hilton and flown home, he was free from prison, and he was free from any resentment or hatred toward his captors. He said that a person who harbors bitterness in his heart towards anyone is in a prison as real as the Hanoi Hilton because that bitterness controls him as much as guards with clubs and guns do.

I was reading a Facebook entry by a psychologist who recommended that those who were disappointed by the election cut out from their life any family or friends who voted for Trump that they never speak to them again. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could do such a thing. Jesus’s words to the woman caught in adultery, “I do not condemn you,” are our standard for living in this world with people all around us who disagree with us and hate us because of that disagreement.

We often manage the big things against us but fail in the more minor things when people say things at work, community, church, friends, and family that hurt us. We hang on to that bitterness and resentment. We need to forgive anybody of anything quickly because God has forgiven us of everything as followers of Jesus Christ.

Col. Tom Kirk was an incredibly strong person, demonstrated by his ability to endure the torture that he went through. Today, an incredibly strong person is one who can navigate through life without picking up resentments and wounds from others who disagree with them, treat them poorly, and violate their rights. Strong people will run the race of life with endurance and will finish well with significant accomplishments as champions for God.