Corrie Ten Boom's story in her book, 'The Hiding Place' is a classic illustration of the power of forgiveness when, after World War Two was over, she faced those who perpetrated the tortures she faced when a prisoner in a German concentration camp:

It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there -- the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.

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.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

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.

Jesus commissioned us to obey and teach others all of His commands (Matthew 28:20). To 'love our enemies' may be the most challenging commandment that He gave.

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

Jesus corrects the false interpretation of Scripture popularized by teachers throughout the ages. He teaches:

1. Those who are different from you are not necessarily your 'enemies'. Jesus' contemporaries mistakenly believed that the law required you to love your God, your family, your own people, and hate foreigners, such as the Samaritans and those considered theologically, politically, ideologically askew. In other words 'stick to your own kind'. Jesus flatly contradicted this misinterpretation when he taught the parable of the certain Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). Who was the neighbor in this story? Not those who represented 'their own kind' - the religious or legal expert representatives of Israel, but the despised enemy, the Samaritan. What a warning this is for us today who are tempted to regard those on the other side of the ideological or political spectrum as enemies! Christ demonstrated God's love for all by dying as a propitiation for not only our sins, but the sins of the world.
2. Jesus did not deny that we will have enemies. He reminds us that we all must give an account at the judgment and it will not be a matter of who was on our side but whether or not we are lined up with the righteousness God requires: the righteousness of Christ.
3. Jesus did not teach that we can love all of our enemies into being our friends. We cannot be guaranteed that those we show love to will reciprocate. Jesus did not love His enemies into being His friends. He did not imply that all enemies will respond to peaceful negotiation processes.
4. Jesus did not teach that we have to 'like' our enemies. Love is a call to action. Liking someone is the result of a positive emotional response. We are to act in a loving manner towards our enemies regardless of how we feel and value them as loved by God. How do we do this? Jesus said by blessing them, doing good to them and praying for them. Loving feelings may not always be there for a person. C.S. Lewis said that to not be able to 'feel love' is no more a sin than having bad digestion. The real issue is to take action. To be a vessel for God's love means that we need to detach ourselves from our natural inclinations to the degree that by faith we begin to behave towards others as God behaves towards us. We must do good to all apart from their performance even as our Father in heaven does. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
5. We are not to love our enemies primarily to get even with them. Psychologists counsel people to forgive others as a way to frustrate or get even with their enemies . Forgiveness a 'hot' topic on the pop psychology circuit. It is the key to inner healing. We do not forgive out of self-interest but out of gratitude for the fact that Christ paid our immense sin-debt (see Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus said that we must forgive primarily because we are to behave as our Father in heaven behaves.. "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
6. We must take the initiative to show love and leave the rest to God. He will give us the love that we need to follow through.

Inspired and empowered to forgive,