What I'm about to share with you is a true account of a woman named Corrie Ten Boom.
In the early 1940s Ten Boom became a rescuer during the Holocaust. She helped hide Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Ten Boom's deeply held religious beliefs motivated her to resist Nazi persecution. She worked closely with the Dutch resistance. Her defiance led to her arrest, imprisonment, and internment in two concentration camps. Several family members died from maltreatment while in German custody. The ten Boom family is credited with helping to save hundreds of Jews.
On December 12, 1967, Yad Vashem – Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of the Holocaust recognized her as "Righteous among the Nations." These are her words…
It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed—out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander's mind, I liked to think that that's where forgiven sins were thrown.
"When we confess our sins," I said, "God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever." The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room. And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.
It came back with a rush: 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. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!"
And I, who had spoken so persuasively of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze. "You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard in there." No, he did not remember me. "But since that time," he went on, "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. Fräulein"–again the hand came out–"will you forgive me?
And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I 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. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.
Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that. And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
"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 known God's love so intensely as I did then. — Corrie Ten Boom
Matthew 18:21—22 21Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Peter had a candid question so he asked the Lord Jesus. I'm sure Peter did not walk away saying to himself under his breath yea right I don't think so. But that's what many professing Christians do. If they don't like the answer the word gives they quietly walk away saying to themselves I don't think so. Jesus said forgive. He didn't say except if …. He said 7x70. In other words always forgive. You never stop forgiving.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
This command from Jesus is still in effect today because Jesus doesn't change.
Now if you refuse to forgive your problem is with the Lord. Jesus said forgive so we should forgive. If we refuse we willfully sin. When you refuse to forgive you agree to allow the devil access to your life and the life of those who you are responsible for. If you have young children your unforgiveness will not only hurt you but you will endanger your children and put them at risk of attack from the devil and his demons. Why? Because you have sin in your life and sin allows the devil to gain access to your home. You are spiritually responsible for your household. God has placed the children under the guidance and protection of their parents, the father first but also the mother.
Titus 2:3—5 3The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
The words "keepers at home" come from the Greek word oikouros {oy—koo—ros'} caring for the house, the (watch or) keeper of the house. Oikouros is a compound word made up from oikos {oy'—kos} – which means house and ouros – meaning a guard. A wife and a mother is supposed to be the guardian of her home. Primarily because she spends the most time there. And if she is harboring unforgiveness in her life she opens a door for demonic attack to her family.
NIV John 14:30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,….
What gives the devil the right to hold on to someone? Sin, and unforgiveness is sin. We think we have a right to hold on to our unforgiveness. Really? What you don't realize is that as long as you hold on to your unforgiveness the devil has a right to hold on to you.
Matthew 18:34—35 34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
You see you will live in torment if you refuse to forgive. Forgiveness is for you. You will always benefit from obeying God's word. Sometimes the one you need to forgive is yourself and if you cannot forgive yourself, you will find it hard to forgive others. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying "weak people seek revenge, strong people forgive, intelligent people ignore". The simple truth is, we all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Your spirit is willing to forgive but your pride and ego is not because it's from the flesh. When you walk by the flesh you cannot please God.
Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become. Booker T. Washington who was born a slave said, "I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him." You forgive people not because they deserve it, but because you deserve peace. Let God take care of the injustice.
ESV Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."