Corrie ten Boom: 10 quotes from the author of The Hiding Place

 Corrie ten Boom Foundation

Concentration camp survivor and spiritual writer Corrie ten Boom died today in 1983.

The author of the classic The Hiding Place, with her family, hid Jews from the Germans in their house in Amsterdam during the Second World War. They were part of the resistance movement overseeing a network of 'safe houses'; an estimated 800 Jews were saved through their efforts. They were betrayed by a Dutch informant and the family were arrested, though the Germans failed to find the Jews hiding in their secret compartment.

Corrie's father Caspar died 10 days after his arrest. She and her sister Betsie were imprisoned in Ravensbruck concentration camp, where Betsie died.

After the war Corrie devoted herself to a ministry of healing and reconciliation. She became a national hero and a writer of profound spiritual insight.

1. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

2. [On meeting one of her Ravensbruck guards after the war at a church service] He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!" His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him....Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.

...And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.

3. Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.

4. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.

5. The tree on the mountain takes whatever the weather brings. If it has any choice at all, it is in putting down roots as deeply as possible.

6. If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.

7. Surely there is no more wretched sight that the human body unloved and uncared for.

8. A religion that is small enough for our understanding would not be big enough for our needs.

9. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.

10. There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still (Betsie's words before she died).

related articles
War-time Pope secretly plotted to kill Hitler
War-time Pope secretly plotted to kill Hitler

War-time Pope secretly plotted to kill Hitler

ISIS committed genocide against Yazidis, says Holocaust Memorial report
ISIS committed genocide against Yazidis, says Holocaust Memorial report

ISIS committed genocide against Yazidis, says Holocaust Memorial report

Christians and Jews are partners, not enemies, say Orthodox rabbis

Christians and Jews are partners, not enemies, say Orthodox rabbis

Martin Luther: Reformer, man of God, antisemite
Martin Luther: Reformer, man of God, antisemite

Martin Luther: Reformer, man of God, antisemite

News
Bangor Cathedral spending frozen after debt concerns 
Bangor Cathedral spending frozen after debt concerns 

Spending at Bangor Cathedral has been halted after whistleblowers raised concerns about debt and how money is being spent. 

How American Gospel teams helped to revive British evangelicalism
How American Gospel teams helped to revive British evangelicalism

From the war and into the 1960s, Gospel teams formed by American servicemen on military bases helped revive many local British churches. This is the story …

Trussell Trust urges urgent policy change as food bank use hits record high
Trussell Trust urges urgent policy change as food bank use hits record high

Food bank use in the UK has soared by more than 50 per cent over the past five years, raising fresh concerns over the effectiveness of Universal Credit and wider welfare reforms in addressing the growing poverty crisis. 

Franklin Graham wraps up European evangelism congress with call to be unashamed of the Gospel
Franklin Graham wraps up European evangelism congress with call to be unashamed of the Gospel

Europe needs an "army" of "unafraid" and "unashamed" evangelists to reach it with the Gospel, Christian leaders heard this week.