Emma Curtis Hopkins wrote an article about a wonderful event which is recorded in the archives of a state penal institution. This is the essence of the article:
Many years ago, a man was sentenced to be hanged. In the interim between his sentence and its time of fulfillment, he sought the love of God and claimed that God would forgive him and free him. The man had committed the murder for which he had been sentenced, but he had heard or read that God was "the bad man's deliverer".
To the great confusion and perplexity of officers of the law, when the man was led to the gallows, the platform, which ordinarily would tip at the slightest weight, became firm the moment the condemned man stepped upon it. They tried again and again to no avail, until finally the prisoner was granted his freedom.
The love of God indeed passes all understanding, and it does illumine the path we tread. The wonders and blessings of God know no ending.
God does not condemn or judge any man. The Bible says: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity ..." (Habakkuk 1:13). You pass judgment on yourself by the concepts and beliefs which you entertain. You are always choosing thoughts, thereby passing judgment on yourself. God sees you as perfect. The Perfect One cannot see imperfection. When you rise in consciousness to the point where you forgive yourself and cleanse your mind and heart, the past is forgotten and remembered no more.
Reaping what you have sown turns out to be inexorable only so long as you do not pray or meditate on the truths of God. No matter how awful the crime or heinous the offense, it can be expunged from the mind together with al the punishment that would ordinarily follow.
Mere affirmations and perfunctory prayer will not change matters, however. A deep hunger and thirst for God's love and peace, plus an intense desire to reform, are essential in order to wipe out the undesirable consequences that must otherwise follow negative and destructive thinking.
» ref. The Amazing Laws of Cosmic Mind Power by Joseph Murphy