This son of mine was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found.
—Luke 15:24
To Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the one story that most powerfully revealed the heart of God was The Parable of the Prodigal Son.
He read it often, and on his deathbed, surrounded by his wife Anna and their children, he asked Anna to read it one more time.
Afterward, taking his children’s hands in his, he said, “My children, never forget what you have just heard. Have absolute faith in God and never despair of His pardon. I love you dearly, but my love is nothing compared with the love of God.
“Even if you should commit some dreadful sin, never despair of God. You are His children; humble yourselves before Him, implore His pardon, and He will rejoice over your repentance, as the father rejoiced over that of the Prodigal Son.”
Never too bad to be forgiven.