A letter to the guy who got my credit card and used it
To whom it may concern,
As mad as I am that I now have to cancel my brand-new credit card because you thought you’d blow $600+ at Walmart, I’m not as mad as my wife was. Luckily, things of this nature are tracked. You know, times, dates, video surveillance footage. Whatever. I hope they find you.
Lucky for me, the credit card company realized that you were using my card. I’d like you to know that you are a dishonest person and deserve punishment for your actions. I would love to say that my first response was forgiveness, but it wasn’t. My first response was anger, and I’ve already had to edit this letter because I want to tell you something more important.
We all deserve punishment. We’ve all screwed up. Everyone’s a sinner. Thankfully, there’s a way to get out of that rut. His name is Jesus Christ, and I hope you find him. I’m praying for you through my frustration that you would come to know Him. I’m praying that He would help me to forgive you. It is only money.
Don’t mistake my prayer for your salvation as me thinking that you don’t deserve Earthly punishment, you know, like jail time for credit fraud. There are consequences to our actions on Earth, after all. I’m not trying to hide that I’m mad, but I am trying to offer you a way out of your life of crime, fraud, theft, and whatever else you may be into.
I am not God. I’m having a hard time writing this. I don’t know if you’ll ever see it, and you probably won’t, but if you do, know that I’m praying for you, and I’m praying for help for me to forgive you. I’m mad right now, so it’s difficult to think about, but I am praying for help and for you.
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”- 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
That was the “Verse of the Day” at BibleGateway.com. How fitting and right. The Lord is good. I pray that you get to know Him better.
Prayerfully,
Bman
Well said brother. Glad you didn’t get stuck with the charges because of someone’s greed and need for instant gratification.
Hey man. Sorry to hear about your close call.
Your letter is really cool. I actually blogged about something like this the other day.
It encourages me that there are people, and especially Christians like you out there; not afraid to express God’s love while reconciling our human emotions along with it.
Excellent post.
My nephew lived with my mom and stole her identity numerous times (even pretending to be an old lady on the telephone to get bogus credit cards in her name). I still have a hard time praying for him. But I do.
Imagine how much harder it would be if it were someone you knew doing it.
Wow. That would be significantly harder. I agree.
The other part about knowing the person would be that you’d also have a sense of wanting to pray for them more to see them saved. Wow. That’s really tough though.
Keep praying, no matter how much it hurts. These people need God just like we do. And it’s not up to us to judge them.