Dear First Baptist Family,
After being released from the Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of World War II, Corrie ten Boom traveled around the world. Her mission was to share a message of forgiveness — God’s forgiveness of sins and the call to forgive one another.
In 1947, after speaking in a Munich church, a balding man in a gray overcoat approached her.
Corrie immediately froze. She knew him well. He was one of the most ruthless guards at the camp, even mocking the women prisoners as they showered.
“It came back with a rush,” she wrote, “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.”
The guard extended his hand toward Corrie, exclaiming, “A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea.”
Corrie, who had spoken so courageously on forgiveness, now found herself speechless.
“You mentioned Ravensbrück,” he continued. “I was a guard there… Since that time, 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, will you forgive me?”
She hesitated. She could not bring herself to forgive him. Corrie said that she “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.” She remembered that forgiveness is an act of the will — not an emotion.
“Jesus, help me!” she prayed. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
As she stretched out her hand, a healing warmth flooded her whole being. It traveled from her shoulder, through her arm, and into the joined hands.
“I forgive you, brother!” she cried. “With all my heart.” *
Jesus said, “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15, NIV).
In other words, when you forgive others, you align yourself with God’s forgiveness toward you. You also receive power to forgive even when you don’t “feel” like forgiving.
Are you struggling to forgive someone? You may struggle to let go of a small offense that still hurts. Maybe what happened to you was a grave offense, like what Corrie experienced. You may struggle to forgive a parent, a sibling, a co-worker, or even a close friend.
If any of those scenarios describes you, take it to the Lord. Pray about your struggle. Ask God to supply the feeling as you do all you reach out as far as you can go.
Forgive. Let it go. Be healed.
With love,
Pastor Brent McDougal
* Corrie ten Boom, with Jamie Buckingham, Tramp for the Lord (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1975), 217–218.