OVER the years my mom gave me a lot of advice and I haven’t forgotten any of it. She always told me to never seek revenge or bear grudges against anyone. “Forgive them if they hurt you and don’t ever do anything to hurt or offend anyone.”

Three years ago I wrote a column about forgiveness. Since that time I have come across several stories about how forgiveness can transform a person’s life, how it can relieve hurt and resentment and can set us free.

One of the most inspiring stories on forgiveness was one written by Laura Hillenbrand, a noted author. It was published in Guideposts Magazine, and is about a World War II veteran, Louie Zamperini. He was an Olympic distance runner who died from pneumonia at the age of 97. A movie has been made of Zamperini’s life and is scheduled to be released on Dec. 25.

In the story, Hillenbrand relates Zamperini’s amazing survival that included a plane crash, shark attacks and capture and torture by the Japanese. She said it was the most amazing story she has ever heard.

“But what fascinated me even more than his story was the way Louie told it. He was infectiously cheerful, speaking of his captors’ cruelty without a trace of bitterness. I asked him how he could speak so easily of such vicious men. His answer was simple: ‘I’ve forgiven them.'”

Hillenbrand said she wondered how a man can forgive what is seemingly unforgivable. In search of the answer, she began a seven year journey through Louie’s life, a journey that culminated in her book,”Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.”

It is a story about a man who was beaten and tortured while a prisoner of the Japanese. One guard, named the Bird, nearly drove Louie to the breaking point. His plane was shot down in the Pacific. He and his crew survived for several days in a life raft which was shot at by a Japanese plane which spotted them in the water. None of them were hurt. They were eventually picked up by a Japanese boat not far from an island. They were taken prisoner and suffered unspeakable torture.

Hillenbrand relates that when the war ended, Louie came home “a deeply haunted man who had nightmares.” He married a beautiful girl but even her love couldn’t blot out the memory of what he had to endure while a prisoner and the beatings he took from the Bird. He began to drink and had flashbacks.

His wife left him after he had awakened from a dream and had his hands around her neck. After their baby was born, his wife found Louie shaking the baby to get her to stop crying. She snatched the baby from him, packed her bags and left.

Eventually, his wife returned and made a last effort to save her husband. She asked him to come to a tent meeting in Los Angeles where a young minister, named Billy Graham was preaching.

Hillenbrand wrote that on the second night of the crusade, Graham asked those present to come forward to declare their faith. Louie stood and stormed toward the exit, but he stopped.

Louie found himself at the Crusade, Hillenbrand relates. “Suddenly he was in a flashback adrift on the raft after his plane was shot down. It did not rain for days and he was dying of thirst. He prayed and whispered, ‘If you will save me, I will serve you forever.’ The rain began to fall, Standing in Graham’s tent, lost in his flashback, Louie felt the rain on his face.”

It was then that he saw his whole ordeal differently. “When he had been trapped in the wreckage of his plane, somehow he got free of the tangled wires.When the Japanese bomber fired shots at the life raft, none of the men were hit and when the Bird drove him nearly to the breaking point, he prayed for help and somehow he found the strength to keep breathing.

“Louie’s conviction that he was forsaken was gone, It had been replaced by a belief that divine love had been all around him, even at his darkest moments. That night in Graham’s tent, the bitterness and pain that had haunted him had vanished.”

Later, Louie went to Japan. He was happy. His marriage was restored, his nightmares and flashbacks were no more and he overcame his alcohol problem. He hoped to find the Bird, but was told the Bird killed himself.

Hillenbrand wrote, “Louie was struck with emotion – it was not hatred or relief, but compassion. He found forgiveness.” William Arthur Ward said, “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate.”

Many times, when we are hurt by someone, our first inclination is to get even – to seek revenge. We get angry, and in time, that anger can make us bitter and destroy us.

Let us not become so obsessed with revenge that it makes us captives. May we learn to forgive others as we ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us when we recite the Lord’s Prayer. Then will we know a peace which can’t be bought.

Louie Zamperini’s story is a classic example of how forgiveness can set us free from unhappiness and the need for revenge.