The teachings of Jesus are radical – ‘Love your enemies’ is one of them, and is recorded in Luke 6:27-36 and Matthew 5:39-42.

I found a great quote by Corrie Ten Boom who was the author of ‘The Hiding Place’ and who had been imprisoned at Ravensbrück concentration camp during WW2.  She is quoted as saying, or writing: ‘Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.  It breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.  The forgiveness of Jesus not only takes away our sins, it makes them as if they had never been.”  If you haven’t heard about Corrie, I really encourage you to find out about her and read her amazing story.

After the war, Corrie travelled all over the world and spoke about God’s forgiveness.  Once at a speaking engagement she offered forgiveness to an ex German soldier who stood in front of her and asked if God could forgive him, and if she could forgive him too.  He had worked at the concentration camp where she had been imprisoned.  He had treated her, and the other prisoners, very harshly.  She said that she sent up a quick prayer for Gods help as she didn’t want to forgive but knew that God wanted her to.  By obedience to God she reached out her hand to the German man, and by doing that act she found that God gave her love and forgiveness to the man and could honestly tell him that she, as well as God, forgave him.  She credits that it was only through God’s help that she was able to forgive.

When studying the subject of this painting, I was thinking of the verse in Romans 12:21 ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’.  It got me thinking about how in cooking, you need to counteract a taste with a different ingredient, ie: using yogurt to cool the effects of hot spices.  Therefore, overcome evil with a different ingredient – with love.