Why Erika Kirk’s forgiveness matters

Author William P.

Young’s new book "Return to the Shack" centers on the power of forgiveness, and he praised Erika Kirk for presenting a strong display of it last year.

Young’s novel "The Shack" tells the story of a father’s healing process after his daughter was kidnapped and killed on a camping trip.

The grieving dad, Mack, receives a mysterious letter from God asking him to come to a shack, where he meets an unorthodox Holy Trinity.

While considered controversial by some religious readers, the story largely resonated with audiences and was turned into a motion picture in 2017.

Young's sequel focuses on forgiveness as Mack comes face-to-face with his daughter’s killer as he is given a more humanized storyline.

"I think we need to make a distinction between forgiveness and reconciliation," Young told Fox News Digital .

"Forgiveness is for the sake of the one who's been harmed, so that you can continue to live your life without the specter of what's on your shoulders.

And I mean, you can forgive someone and never trust them again.

Reconciliation is the slow, arduous, painful process of learning how to trust.

Or taking the risk that you might become trustworthy if you've done the harm.

So, reconciliation is for the sake of the perpetrator, much more than forgiveness is." ‘THE SHACK’ AUTHOR EXPECTS MORE CHRISTIAN CRITICISM WITH SEQUEL, BUT WILL TAKE IT IN STRIDE Making peace is essential, he said.

"Otherwise, you're going to live with a corpse of an event or a situation or some human being who may be dead," he continued.

"A lot of abuse was done to us by people who no longer are alive.