THE POWER TO FORGIVE.
In 1947, Corrie Ten Boom was traveling and speaking across Germany, sharing the message of God’s love and forgiveness that had sustained her through Ravensbrück concentration camp, where her beloved sister Betsie had died.
After one service in a Munich church, a balding man in a gray overcoat stepped forward to greet her. Corrie’s blood ran cold. She instantly recognized him: he had been a vicious guard at Ravensbrück—one who had stood by during the degrading processing where women prisoners were stripped naked and mocked.
Memories flooded back—the harsh lights, the piles of clothing, the cruelty, the loss of her sister. Her heart froze as he extended his hand.
He said something like: “A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” Then he continued: “You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk. I was a guard there. But 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… Will you forgive me?”
Corrie stood there, wrestling internally. She had preached forgiveness countless times. But now? Facing the man responsible for so much pain? She felt she couldn’t do it. Betsie’s slow, terrible death couldn’t simply be erased with a handshake.
In that moment, she remembered the truth she had lived by: Forgiveness is not an emotion—it is an act of the will. And she prayed desperately:
“Jesus, help me! I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
She thrust out her hand.
“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, they grasped each other’s hands—the former guard and the former prisoner. Corrie later wrote that she had never known God’s love so intensely. It wasn’t her love. She had tried and failed in her own power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit.
This encounter wasn’t just a personal victory. It became a living sermon on what Corrie often taught: “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.” She spent the rest of her life (traveling to over 60 countries as a “tramp for the Lord”) telling people that no pit is so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.
Even in the darkest places—like the concentration camp barracks where fleas kept guards away so she and Betsie could read the Bible aloud—Corrie experienced that God’s presence and promises were real. She and Betsie clung to the truth that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
When bitterness feels justified, will we choose to forgive anyway?
When we feel too weak, will we trust God to supply the strength?
In a world full of division and hurt, can we let the Holy Spirit do what we cannot?
Corrie’s words still echo: “There is an ocean of God’s love available—there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love—whatever the circumstances.”
If this story moves you, share it. Read The Hiding Place or Tramp for the Lord. And ask yourself: Who do I need to forgive today? Not in my strength—but in His.
“Jesus, help us to forgive as we have been forgiven.”
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