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Corrie ten Boom did the unimaginable after surviving a Nazi concentration camp. In her uplifting and powerful autobiography The Hiding Place, Corrie tells of the moment, years after her release, when she came face to face with the Nazi guard who had brutalized her and countless others. She had just finished speaking on the need for forgiveness -- one of many talks she gave across the world -- when the former guard approached her, asked if she would forgive him, and offered her his outstretched hand. Standing there facing him, she did not feel forgiving, yet she knew she had to live what she had just preached. The only thing she felt she could do was lift her hand. So, slowly and mechanically, she brought her hand up toward his. When he grasped it, she felt what she described as a kind of electric current run down her arm and through their clasped hands. She then experienced an unlikely sense of deep, freeing peace flowing through her and toward this man.
Notice that it was only after Corrie’s hand grasped his did the feeling come to her. That’s because forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling. Forgiving is deciding to not hold onto the wrongdoing any longer. (Reconciliation requires both parties. Forgiveness involves only one.)
Who do you need to forgive? A parent? Your spouse? A teacher? A friend? Yourself? We might not feel forgiving, but we can decide to forgive them. We might not feel anything dramatic like Corrie did afterwards but, still, we can set ourselves free from the transgression. We can let it go. We can say out loud, “Lord, I forgive _____ for _____. “
Christ lives in us; we possess His power to forgive. Imagine yourself preparing to confront someone who has hurt you. Listen to Christ speak to you these encouraging words:
Speak to him with love. My love. It will come from Me, not you. You have too much pain in your heart right now. Let me fill you with My love. It’s My love you will offer to him. You may not feel you can do that, and that’s why it won’t be your love, but Mine, that you offer. How do you do that? Keep Me by your side and forefront in your mind in everything you say and do. Let My love soak into all your words.
We forgive others in order to free ourselves from the desire to retaliate. This doesn’t mean we put ourselves in dangerous or vulnerable situations; we have to protect ourselves. Also, forgiving may not lead to reconciliation. Yet when we’ve forgiven from the heart, the person who hurt us no longer controls our emotions.
“ (Pray), ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’... If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
--Matthew 6:12, 14-15
“Lord, help me to forgive.”
Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell Comments are always welcome!
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