God's Love and Forgiveness

  At the end of last semester, I read The Hiding Place for a class I am taking. I was very touched by the amazing lives of Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom and the love and forgiveness they showed to many others. Although I didn't really think to say anything about it to anyone, except the other students participating in the class book discussion. Until yesterday in Seminary. We were talking about forgiveness and I thought of The Hiding Place. I felt an urge to raise my hand and share the wonderful stories that I had remembered. So I did and I've been thinking of it for the past two days. I wanted to share the message with more people but I didn't exactly know how I would do it. Then I remembered this Blog. This poor abandoned Blog with only five posts that I wrote two years ago. So I decided to write a post about my thoughts and I intend to post more often than I have been.

But, anyway here are some stories and a few of my thoughts on Forgiveness and God's Love.

  When Corrie was younger she fell in love with a young man named Karel who had led her to believe that he loved her back and intended to marry her.

  But one day he showed up on Corrie's doorstep with a beautiful lady by his side. He introduced her to Corrie as his Fiancé. Corrie was absolutely heartbroken. How could Karel leave her for a more beautiful and rich girl? But he did and nothing could change that. Her family distracted the two until thy left so Corrie wouldn't have to bear the pains of it.

  When they left she ran up to her bedroom and fell on her bed and cried for a long time for the only love of her life that she ever had and ever would have.

  Her father came upstairs to her so that he might comfort her as he always had before. And he was not the type of Father to say "There'll be someone else soon."

  "Corrie," he began instead, "do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain."

  "There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel."

  "God loves Karel—even more than you do—and if you ask Him, He will give you His love for this man, a love nothing can prevent, nothing destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us the perfect way."

  In that moment her Father told her exactly what she needed to hear. She was able to forgive Karel of what he did to her, but keep the joyful times they had spent together in her heart and remember those memories.

  Betsie also helped teach Christlike love to Corrie.

  Betsie loved everybody and she served all that she could. She kept a pot of soup boiling in the kitchen all during the day to help feed the hungry people in the streets.

  When she and Corrie were in the prison camps they were being forced to dig holes and even though Betsie was seriously ill she worked hard anyway. She took a moment to catch her breath and one of the guards hit her. Corrie grabbed her shovel and began to go after the guard. But Betsie stopped her and asked her to please not try and get back at the guard. Betsie forgave others without a second thought and she would not judge others for their actions.

  Forgiveness was a bit harder for Corrie to learn.

  Many years later after Corrie had been freed from the prison camps, she would speak to people all over the world about her experiences in the Nazi prison camps, forgiveness and the love of God.

  After one particular talk, a man came up to her with tears streaming down his face and told her how much she had inspired him. He reached out to shake her hand She recognized him immediately as one of the guards from the camp.

  She stared at his hand for a moment and asked herself how she could possibly forgive this man even after all that he had done to her. But she took his hand and as she did she felt an electric shock run up her arm and through her and the man. She had forgiven him and she was able to do this through God's love.

  I know that if we let in God's perfect love for others that we will be able to forgive them and forget the hurt that they have done to us.

-Aria

p.s. Also, here's some quotes on Forgiveness and God's love. Enjoy :)

"Those who will repent and forsake sin will find that His merciful arm is outstretched still. Those who listen to and heed His words and the words of His chosen servants will find peace and understanding even in the midst of great heartache and sorrow. The result of His sacrifice is to free us from the effects of sin, that all may have guilt erased and feel hope.

Had He not accomplished the Atonement, there would be no redemption. It would be a difficult world to live in if we could never be forgiven for our mistakes, if we could never purify ourselves and move on.

The mercy and grace of Jesus Christ are not limited to those who commit sins either of commission or omission, but they encompass the promise of everlasting peace to all who will accept and follow Him and His teachings. His mercy is the mighty healer, even to the wounded innocent.

I recently received a letter from a woman who reported having endured great suffering in her life. A terrible wrong, which she did not identify but alluded to, had been committed against her. She admitted that she struggled with feelings of great bitterness. In her anger, she mentally cried out, “Someone must pay for this terrible wrong.” In this extreme moment of sorrow and questioning, she wrote that there came into her heart an immediate reply: “Someone already has paid.”

If we are not aware of what the Savior’s sacrifice can do for us, we may go through life carrying regrets that we have done something that was not right or offended someone. The guilt that accompanies mistakes can be washed away. If we seek to understand His Atonement, we will come to a deep reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ, His earthly ministry, and His divine mission as our Savior."

 ~President Boyd K. Packer (The Reason for Our Hope, Oct. General Conference, 2014)

"What is it about true love that touches every heart? Why does the simple phrase “I love you” evoke such universal joy?

Men give various reasons, but the real reason is that every person who comes to earth is a spirit son or daughter of God. Since all love emanates from God, we are born with the capacity and the desire to love and to be loved. One of the strongest connections we have with our premortal life is how much our Father and Jesus loved us and how much we loved Them. Even though a veil was drawn over our memory, whenever we sense true love, it awakens a longing that cannot be denied.

Responding to true love is part of our very being. We innately desire to reconnect here with the love we felt there. Only as we feel God’s love and fill our hearts with His love can we be truly happy.

God’s love fills the immensity of space; therefore, there is no shortage of love in the universe, only in our willingness to do what is needed to feel it. To do this, Jesus explained we must “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, … soul, … strength, and … mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27).

The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on. Conversely, the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel.

Trying to find lasting love without obeying God is like trying to quench thirst by drinking from an empty cup—you can go through the motions, but the thirst remains. Similarly, trying to find love without helping and sacrificing for others is like trying to live without eating—it is against the laws of nature and cannot succeed. We cannot fake love. It must become part of us. The prophet Mormon explained:

“Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love” (Moro. 7:47–48)."

 ~Elder John H. Groberg (The Power of God's Love, Oct. General Conference, 2004)