As I mentioned before I listen to Revive Our Hearts often at work to pass the time when there isn't much to do. Their current series is on "Healing from Bitterness" with Yvonne Welch. Yvonne had been talking about the bitterness that she had during the early years in her marriage and about not forgiving was negatively affecting her emotionally, spiritually, and physically. She was talking about forgiveness and gave an example from the story of Corrie ten Boom. I was curious to know more about Corrie's story, I've always been interested in the history of WWII due to my mom's family being from Germany. I looked her up and read that this woman helped hide Jews in Holland during the Holocaust until she was thrown into a concentration camp. She then from there was released and started to travel as a missionary to tell non-believers about God and His forgiveness. Corrie also wrote a few books, one that was made into a movie called "The Hiding Place." I have never heard of her before but she had such an interesting and inspirational life and is seen as a great example of an evangelical Christian. Her preaching on forgiveness was tested first hand when she met one of the concentration camp's guard face to face at a church she was speaking at. Here is an excerpt I found from her book "The Hiding Place":
And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!
Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. ...
"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard in there." No, he did not remember me.
"I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us."
"But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, ..." his hand came out, ... "will you forgive me?"
And I stood there — I whose sins had every day to be forgiven — and could not. Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
For I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." ...
And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling."
And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"
For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then. "
from: "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom and John and Elizabeth Sherrill, 1971
I believe that forgiveness is a big issue in a lot of our lives. Our human sinful heart has a tendency to keep record of wrongs which causes us to become bitter and resentful. God reveals to us when we have sinned and we have to get over ourselves and forgive as God has forgiven us, just as Corrie ten Boom did with this man (Matthew 6:14). Unforgiveness can corrupt our heart and the devil feeds off of that sin. I also believe that after finding the freedom after forgiving someone, it reveals our own sin that we must repent and ask for forgiveness ourselves.
One of my focuses this year has been on meekness (which will be another post for another day). Our culture has taught us to be prideful, to be the "winner", and "take care of numero uno" before thinking of others. But, our lack of meekness puts us in a habit that makes us fall farther away from living like Christ. I cannot imagine being in the situation that Corrie was in but God has really used her as an example. In this interview I found on youtube from 1974 you can see how she seems calm and gentle... meek. This forgiveness has given her peace and freedom from resentment and bitterness.
