Corrie Ten Boom

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“Healing is linked to forgiveness” (Ten Boom) Corrie Ten Boom is a woman who lost everything physically and mentally, but still maintained her faith in God. Corrie’s life is a great example of forgiveness and the way she impeccably imitates the Christian person that God tells us to be. Her story of compassion and forgiveness has been one of inspiration to people worldwide. With forgiveness, it benefits the forgiver more than the person being forgiven. In the last chapter, Corrie is given the chance of a new life. This chapter is titled “Three Visions” for a reason. Three Visions refers to the steps Corrie took towards freedom, the same steps it takes to forgive. The first vision is Corrie being permitted to leave prison. “It was New Year’s …show more content…
Clearly, forgiveness is seen in her first encounter with a former SS man. Corrie “discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world healing hinges, but on His” (Ten Boom, 248). She realized that forgiveness was a gift that she had to give back to God after all He had done for her. In Mathew 6:14-15, he writes “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (NIV Bible) Corrie knew that God was the reason she survived and the reason she got through all that she did, therefore, she had to forgive. God gave her the ability to forgive once she prayed the words “forgive me and help me to forgive him” (Ten Boom, 247). From this prayer, she felt an automatic rush in her body from the Holy Spirit. Once her heart was filled with the Holy Spirit, she had the ability to love a man who she once resented. A part of forgiveness is love. According to Corrie’s father, the one thing that hurts very much, “It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain” (Ten Boom, 60). She needed to rebuild and restart her life, and that would not be possible if she could not forgive. Additional example that Corrie does truly forgive is when the director of the relief organization tells her they have a place in which she …show more content…
When defining forgiveness, each forgiver sees the act differently. Forgiveness is seen in different measures. In Corrie’s perspective, it is seen as though forgiveness is necessary no matter how tragic the event. In the event of rape, how is forgiveness necessary? Although both acts are tragic events, still Corrie was able to forgive. Forgiveness is seen in different measures meaning a person can sometimes forgive totally, or just partial. In an interview with Corrie, she recalls a night when she was not sure if she had forgiven completely, but she says “I sat up and switched on the light. ‘Father, I thought it was all forgiven! Please help me do it!’” (Ten Boom, Guidepost) An event such as the Holocaust is impossible to forget, thus, a person is going to have days and nights in which they develop anger, which is part of human nature. Consequently, it is proper to forgive such tragic events for the sake of yourself. It is more of a nuisance holding all the anger inside when the person who needs forgiving is living their daily normal life, and you cannot because hatred is holding you