This is the 15th of 25 special reflections based on lessons I learned from my mother. These will run from my birthday on October 27 until her birthday on November 20.

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Matthew 25:31-45

One of them was named Glenn Consagra. He had been convicted of a double murder, though there was some question about whether or not he had actually committed that crime. However, Glenn was the first to say that he’d gotten away with a lot of crimes for which he hadn’t been caught and that the Lord was using prison to get his attention. (Glenn’s story ended up being the subject of an “Unsolved Mysteries” segment. If you can find it, it’s definitely worth watching.)

There was also James “Pete” Christian. (We just called him “Pete.”) He was also a convicted murderer, and he was absolutely guilty of his crimes. He had killed a couple of women and had been labeled by the media as the “Slasher in Black Satin” because there were satin sheets on the bed where one of them was found. He had since given his life to the Lord and was a model prisoner, but he had little chance of ever being paroled. (That turned out to be true; Pete never made it out of the system and died in Orlando in 2018. Glenn was paroled in 1992 and died of a heart attack four years later.) Mom’s compassion for Pete was no less than her compassion for Glenn. Whether or not a man was innocent of the crime for which he was imprisoned wasn’t a prerequisite for showing him the love of Christ.

Years later, we met a man who would later become famous for a very unusual crime and trial. His name was Bernie Tiede, and he was the funeral director for the funerals of both of my grandparents in Carthage, Texas. Bernie befriended a woman named Marjorie Nugent and left the funeral business to manage her affairs full-time. Somewhere along the line their relationship soured, and Bernie did something I never would have imagined the man I remembered could do. He shot Marjorie in the back four times. His trial became something of a spectacle, and he ended up getting national attention because of it. In fact, the whole story caught the attention of Hollywood and was turned into the movie, “Bernie,” starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey.

I still remember sitting across from Bernie as he consoled my mother after the passing of my grandmother. He didn’t seem menacing but instead was genuinely kind and compassionate. After she learned of the story, Mom was saddened by his crime, but she never forgot the kindness and compassion he’d shown her years before. What he had done didn’t change what she remembered about him, and what she remembered about him didn’t excuse what he had done.

I learned from Mom that just because someone had committed a terrible crime, it didn’t mean that they were separated from our compassion or from the love of Christ. That didn’t excuse the crimes for which they were imprisoned, but it also didn’t excuse us from showing them our Savior’s love. Everyone deserves at least that much, no matter what they’ve done. And showing compassion to someone who has committed a terrible crime doesn’t mean forgetting the people who suffered because of it. They deserve our compassion, too. God’s love isn’t a limited resource, and we don’t have to withhold it from one person in order to extend it to another.

As you look at the news and see stories of unbelievable depravity, remember that even those criminals were created by the Lord and that He desires to know each of them personally. Mom taught me that the people behind those prison walls were no less in need of God’s grace than the people sitting beside us in church. In whatever way you feel led, look for opportunities to extend that grace and mercy to others. And remember what Jesus tells us: When we show His love to the least of these, we’re showing it to Him.

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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.