ROMANIA: PASTOR RICHARD WURMBRAND
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
“My wife is sleeping in the other room because she has been ill,” Pastor Richard Wurmbrand began. “She and I are both Jewish. Her family perished in the same Nazi concentration camp where you just boasted of killing Jews with children still in their arms. Perhaps you murdered my wife’s family.”
Upon hearing this, the pastor’s guest, a soldier, became very angry and stood to leave. But Richard stopped him. “Wait. I want to propose an experiment. I want to tell my wife who you are and what you did. But my wife will not curse you or even look at you angrily. She will accept you.”
The man sat with his mouth open, but speechless.
The pastor continued, “Now if my wife, who is only human can forgive you-then how much more will Jesus love and forgive you?”
The man buried his face in his hands. “What have I done? How can I go on living with the guilt of so much blood? Jesus, please forgive me.” The soldier went on to give his life to Christ.
Then Richard went and woke his wife Sabina. “This is the murderer of your sisters, your brothers, and your parents,” he introduced the man. “But now he has repented.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.
“Love conquers all” is a popular saying. Christians, however, know the truth of this saying first hand. When we are at the mercy of our anger, we are consumed with hatred. But when we have allowed God (who is love) to control our lives, we find that our natural emotions like anger submit to him. We don’t even feel like getting upset over situations that used to enrage us. Love must conquer anything within us that is contrary to the character of Christ. The end result is that we are so consumed with love that even our worst enemy benefits from our transformation. Are you experiencing victory over bitterness and vengeance? Ask the God of love to conquer your anger today.
This is one of the readings from the book, Extreme Devotion, available from VOM’s online bookstore. You can also receive devotional thoughts daily via email. Sign up here.
"Tortured for Christ" is a book that I was fortunate enough to have access to, as well as read in the Elmore County Jail, Alabama during the Christmas Holidays of 2013. Thank you so very much Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wurmbrand for ALL YOUR PERSEVERANCE AND SOULS YOU BROUGHT TO CHRIST. I understand now that to "KNOW CHRIST" IS "TRUELY LIVING RICH".
Posted by: Marcella Martin | April 06, 2014 at 01:09 PM