Mass murderer Bryan Kohberger was sentenced on July 23 to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He brutally stabbed to death four University of Idaho students: Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen, in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.

During the sentencing hearing, family members and one of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, were given the opportunity to present victim impact statements, and many of them addressed Kohberger directly. Their voices revealed a wide array of emotions — from pain to disgust to profound sadness to anger.

Yet one witness stood out from the rest: Cara Northington, the mother of Xana Kernodle. Northington gave a Holy Spirit-led, Scripture-filled testimony, which she read directly to Kohberger. It is worth quoting at length:

“Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now has [Xana] in his loving arms in heaven, where she can never be harmed ever again, for eternity. Because of her, I came to know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of her, many will come to Christ.

“It is Christ who lives in me, that has given me the strength to forgive you. It was of no power of my own. In return, the Lord has filled me with joy, hope, and peace that surpasses all understanding. Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this. This is only possible because He who lives in me is greater than any evil in this world. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. I do not fear you or even let you rent space in my head anymore. This forgiveness has released me from any and all evil you have inflicted on me and my family. It has allowed me to let our Lord deal with you.

“You have accepted a deal that will prevent you from receiving the death penalty. Nothing man can do to you can ever compare to the wrath of God. Inevitably, you will stand before our Lord, and [you] will have to answer to him over the sins you have committed and murdering our children.

“I pray you come to the end of yourself before that day. Whether you like it or not, heaven is for real, and so is hell. The innocent life of Xana that you stole from myself and my family and the destruction it has caused — I am washing my hands of you and turning you over to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom vengeance belongs to.

“In closing, I want to read a passage from the Bible, Ephesians 6, King James Version: ‘Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.’”

Northington finished by telling Kohberger, “I do pray for you. I pray that you come to the end of yourself. I pray that before this life is over, that you ask our Lord and Savior in your heart to forgive you.” By praying for Kohberger, Northington is following the apostle Paul’s instructions to pray for all people because God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Northington revealed how Jesus tells us to view the world: from an eternal perspective — not merely from a worldly, physical, or self-focused perspective. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

If we fix our eyes on Jesus, who has overcome the world, we can forgive even the most evil of people.