Corrie Ten Boom and her family helped many Jews escape the holocaust, and even hid Jews in their own home. When they were discovered, they were arrested, and Corrie and her sister were sent to a concentration camp where they faced great suffering. Corrie’s sister died at age 59 in the camp. Some would say that risking her life to save Jews was Corrie’s greatest act of love, but they would be wrong…
In modern society, love is used so commonly that it has taken on other meanings. For instance, we might say, “I love watching baseball,” or “I love chocolate ice cream.” True…it’s hard to beat baseball and ice cream, but biblical love is so much more! 1 Corinthians 13 gives us an incredible glimpse of what biblical love really looks like. We can be the most gifted speaker/singer, we can have the greatest wisdom and intellect, we can have a strong faith that is demonstrated by great material sacrifice . . . but without love, we are nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-8).
After WWII, Corrie was speaking to a crowd about God’s forgiveness when she saw a man slip into the back—it was a guard from Ravensbruck concentration camp where Corrie and her sister faced unthinkable horrors. After her speech, the man approached her, explained he had become a Christian, and asked her forgiveness. She froze. The memories of the camp flooded back; but all in that moment, love prevailed. She shook the man’s hand and wept.
Corrie, in her book, The Hiding Place, later described that moment: “I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.” Christian, when you face the difficulty (and many certainly are because of the pandemic), there is no greater response than true, Christ-like love. Faith, sacrifice, service, and hope are all important . . . But the greatest response is love.