“As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, ‘Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!’ And with that, he died.” (Acts 7:59-60)
Stephen was awesome!
Given the chance to defend himself to his accusers, he instead preached a sermon. He didn’t even try to defend himself. In fact, he accused his accusers. He even boldly proclaimed the very things they would consider blasphemy, referring to Jesus as Lord and God. And Stephen paid for it with his life. Yet even then, he prayed to Jesus and asked that his killers’ sins not be held against them, reflecting Jesus’ grace even in his own death.
I could learn a few things from Stephen about what it means to follow Jesus.