Forgiving a tool thief

A young Christian working man told me that he lost a valued tool from his tool kit and recognized it later in the kit of his fellow workman. Being the only Christian at work in the room he felt it incumbent upon him to show forgiveness. So he went to the thief and said, “I see you have one of my tools, but you can keep it if you need it.” Then he went on with his work and put the incident out of his mind. During the next two weeks the thief three times tried to give the value of the tool to its rightful owner—once by offering to give him something else of equal value, again by offering his services between hours, and again by slipping money into his coat pocket. The incident closed with a lasting friendship between the two men, because, said the thief, “I couldn’t stand being forgiven.” —Henry and Tertius van Dyke in Light My Candle; Fleming H. Revell Company.