"He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." Psalm 103:10
After World War Two, an already broken world was shattered leaving millions of people homeless and heaving with grief. Seeing the need, one Christian Dutch woman sewed seeds of loving kindness as she told the story of her survival of the concentration camp, Ravensbruck, to any who would listen. After one such message at a church service in Munich, she was approached by a former SS guard who asked her forgiveness for the cruelties he had shown her and her sister, Betsie.
Even as the angry and vengeful thoughts boiled through her veins, she recognized the sin of them and silently prayed for help. "Jesus Christ died for this man," she wrote in her book, "Was I going to ask for more?" As she obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit by extending her hand to his, the powerful love of Christ coursed through her, flushing forth the vengeful thoughts and replacing them with the supernatural joy of forgiveness.
In 1950, when former POW Louis Zamperini returned to Japan to face a roomful of former guards, by human standards he had every right to mow them all down like Rambo, but as a Christian, he overcame evil with good by shaking their hands in sincere forgiveness, and the love of Christ shone like the noonday sun!
I love the story of the faith of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Years after his own brothers had sold him into slavery and lied to their father, saying Joseph had been killed, he was faced with a decision when these men kneeled before him in contrition and dire need. Shaking in their sandals, the brothers wondered, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" (Genesis 50:15)
Indeed, what if Corrie had slapped the guard and spewed righteous anger at him? What if Louis had taken out his trauma on those men who so cruelly beat him? Wouldn't he have had the right to do so?
No. We don't have that right. "'Vengeance is mine,' says the Lord. 'I will repay.'" (Deuteronomy 32:35) If we are tempted to get even, let's remember the words of our dying Savior, who could have called legions of angels to come to his aid, yet He gave His life for the sins of the world: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
Getting back to our friend, Joseph who, by the way, is a Christlike figure in the Old Testament - did he treat his brothers as their sin deserved? "'So then, don't be afraid,' he said to them, 'I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them." (Genesis 50:21)
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6: 14, 15
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