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Corrie ten Boom had trouble forgiving someone who wronged her. She had forgiven the person but she kept rehashing in her mind and could not sleep. A pastor friend helped her this way. He rang the church bell in the tower and said, “Once I take my hand off the ropes of the bell, it will slowly ding and dong until it stops. That is how forgiveness often works. When we forgive, we deliberately take our hands off the rope. Over time, the bell stops dinging. The Apostle Paul urged the Christians at Corinth to take their hands off the rope and forgive the man that had repented of his sin. In 2 Corinthians Chapter 1 he wrote, “I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him. When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us; for we are familiar with his evil schemes.” It’s like Will Smith said, “All through life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too.”
