“Forgiveness is a beautiful word, until you have something to forgive.” – C.S. Lewis
Shortly after the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee ran into a woman in Virginia who complained to him that Yankee artillery had severely damaged a beautiful tree that was in her yard. She was so livid about it that she insisted that Lee condemn the Union army for the “senseless destruction of personal property.” Lee bluntly replied, “Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget about it.”
The war might’ve been over, but not in this woman’s mind, sadly. It was still raging on.
Corrie ten Boom and her entire family were being held at a concentration camp in Germany for helping and sheltering Jews in Holland during WW2. Corrie was confined at Ravensbruck, along with her sister Betsy who was very ill. Corrie and Betsy were in the same housing unit, and she saw her sister’s condition rapidly deteriorate without her medication. Betsy would die there a short time later. The conditions Corrie suffered were humiliating and dehumanizing. Yet her faith in God would help her get through it all. And it was God’s grace that enabled her to go back to Germany several years later to preach God’s forgiveness, despite losing her entire family there at the hands of the Nazis.
After one of the services Corrie preached, a man came forward and she recognized him right away. One of her worst experiences she suffered through in camp was the delousing showers where the women were completely naked and being taunted and made fun of by the male guards. The man that had approached her was one of those guards, and she remembered the cruelty he inflicted upon both her and her sister Betsy before she died. The man stretched out his hand and said, “Ja fraulein, it is wonderful that Jesus forgives all of our sins, just as you say.” As he spoke, Corrie relived those horrific memories in her mind. “You mentioned Ravensbruck. I was a guard there, but since then have changed and become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me. But I would like to hear it from you, too. Will you forgive me?”
Corrie stood there unable to move. There was no way she could forgive him. Her sister, the sickness, the way he treated her, Betsy’s death, her whole family’s deaths.. She had come there to preach forgiveness, but suddenly that seemed impossible for her to do herself.
Corrie said a silent prayer in that moment. “Lord, please forgive me! I can’t forgive him,” she quietly cried to God.. But as soon as she finished her prayer, something came over her. She reached out her hand and told him, “I forgive you.”
Despite all that she’d suffered at the hands of that man, Corrie refused to remain a prisoner of the past.
What about us? Are we holding onto a past hurt that has us shackled to bitterness and resentment? Are we nursing wounded trees that we refuse to cut down and let go of?
God’s grace and mercy is truly wonderful. But it does not free us from responsibility. Quite the contrary: His grace obligates us to forgive others.
Former Blackout Artist 