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What would you do if you were confronted face-to-face with your worst enemy and they asked, “Would you forgive me?”

One of life’s fundamental actions we need to think about often is forgiving others. The story of Corrie Ten Boom is a wonderful example of forgiveness. During World War 2, Corrie and her family voluntarily hid people in their home to keep them from being arrested by the Nazi soldiers. One afternoon, those Nazi soldiers caught on and arrested Corrie and her entire family. They were relocated to a concentration camp, and sadly, Corrie’s entire family died there.

For reasons still unknown, Corrie was released from the prison and she would go on to establish a foundation where she would regularly give talks about forgiveness, never expecting the situation she would soon find herself in.

On afternoon, after giving her presentation, she noticed a man in the crowd who looked familiar. Her blood ran cold as she remembered the face and eyes of the cruel prison guard that worked in the concentration camp that tormented her and killed her family. The man approached her after her speech, not recognizing her, and he said to her: “You spoke so well about forgiveness.” He continued to tell her about his experience as a guard at the concentration camps, and that were it not for the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, what he had done in those camps would have crushed him. He expressed how wonderful it was to be forgiven.

Later, she confessed to him she had been a prisoner at that very camp. He stuck out his hand and asked her, “Sister, will you forgive me?”

She said, in that moment, even after giving a speech about forgiveness – she felt like her body went wooden and stiff. She didn’t know what to do. But then, the words came across her lips: “Yes, with all my heart, I forgive you.”

Imagine being faced with that situation. What would you do?

In today’s video, Pastor TJ explores what it means to forgive and be forgiven. Be sure to watch it! If you want to know more about forgiveness, you can also reach out to him at tj@wellsborobible.com.