My dear friend, John Frazer, shared this tonight and called it 'Freedom'...

Forgiveness From the Heart of Corrie Ten Boom

Many of the best examples of people recovering from hurt are from those who have allowed God to help them forgive. Corrie Ten Boom is a glowing example. Her struggle to forgive is well known in Christian circles, but it is worth repeating since she overcame good with evil and did so mainly by trusting in the goodness of God’s commands. During World War II Corrie and her family rescued Jews from slaughter by hiding them in their house. The Ten Booms were betrayed, caught, and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. More than 96,000 women died there, one of whom was Corrie’s beloved sister, Betsie.


Here is an excerpt from her biography, The Hiding Place ~

Some years later, Corrie gave a speech at church in Numich, after which a heavyset man approached her. Corrie recognized him as one of the most brutal guards in her camp. She froze in pain and anguish. The man said to her, “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?” Corrie wrestled with what she said. It was the most difficult thing she ever did. She wrote,

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. “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 know God’s love so intensely as I did then.

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness, any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

Sands of Forgiveness

Mankind is always sure to disappoint. Even those closest to us are the ones who hurt us the most. As we look at the shortcomings of others, let us not forget how often we also fall short. If we can learn to live with a heart filled with humility, forgiveness, and gratitude, our disappointments would be far fewer and less frequent.

Here is an inspirational story on forgiveness that remains embedded in my heart. The author is unknown. If we look for the grace in others in the midst of our pain, we can experience forgiveness and peace ~

SANDS OF FORGIVENESS
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied...

“When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE