His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

In my three Christian fiction series—Titus Ray Thrillers, Mylas Grey Mysteries, and Silas McKay Suspense—each of my protagonists is at a different place in his spiritual journey.

However, of the three, Titus Ray, a covert operative, has the most difficulty forgiving others for past mistakes.

Titus was brought to faith in Christ through the influence of an Iranian Christian couple in Tehran who hid him in their home for three months while he was on the run from the secret police.

Even though Titus grew up in “Christian” America, he knew nothing about Christianity. He came from a family who never attended church, who never mentioned God—except in a swear word—and who never went inside a church unless it was to attend a funeral.

Thus, it wasn’t surprising that Titus didn’t know how to live out his faith when he became a believer and returned to the States to resume his career at the CIA. However, he remembered the Iranian Christians read their Bible every day, so he purchased his first Bible and began reading the gospel of John.

From reading his Bible and being mentored by more mature believers, he gradually figured out how to control his volatile temper, and how to recognize the difference between deceiving others as part of his profession and doing so willfully to further his own agenda.

By far, the most difficult part of his Christian walk so far has been learning to forgive others—from his alcoholic father to other operatives who made foolish decisions that cost people their lives—but his journey toward real and lasting forgiveness only began when he heard these words from Ephesians 5:32: “And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Jesus himself showed us the example when he was in the throes of agony on the cross and cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34.

Titus realized he was to forgive others even as he had been forgiven, for no one had ever wronged him as much as the Son of God had been wronged.

A lesson from a fictional character to real believers.