Greatness: Matthew 14-20Sample

The story of Corrie ten Boom and her family leaves me in awe. They hid Jews in their home during WWII and helped countless others escape imprisonment. It came to a sudden halt when an informant told the Nazis and they were arrested. Days later, Corrie’s father died. When Corrie spoke of how God loved those whom the Nazis were killing, she was sent with her sister to a concentration camp, where her sister would also die. Years later, she recalls how a former guard from that concentration camp came to her asking for her forgiveness. Despite how hard it was, Corrie, convicted by her faith, forgave him. She recalls, “for a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intently as I did then.”

Jesus is really clear about forgiveness. The Lord has forgiven us, so we must forgive each other. Forgiveness can be extremely difficult, and we are not promised it will be easy. But Jesus did not forgive us as clean, blameless people. He forgave us while we were sinners—guilty and undeserving.

God expects us to forgive readily. And in forgiving, we are freed from the resentment and negativity that we might be holding on to. I can’t imagine being put in a position of forgiving those who were part of the system that killed my father and sister, like Corrie ten Boom did. But I am blown away by her reflections after offering that forgiveness. Corrie ten Boom talks about how intensely she felt the love of God.

Today, ponder this: The Lord’s Prayer assumes we will forgive those who trespass against us and reminds us of God’s forgiveness towards us (Matthew 6:12, ESV). Think of someone you might be holding unforgiveness towards. Take some time to pray and write down, “I forgive [insert name] for [insert why]”. If possible and safe for you, talk to them about this forgiveness. If not, you can always talk to God about it.