There is so much to be learned from Richard Wurmbrand's life and devotion. He said that even as prisoners were being beaten to death, they praised God, but they also prayed for those who tortured them. They forgave them, and they loved them deeply. When Richard was free, the Wurmbrands met the man who had murdered all of his wife's family. Upon meeting the murderer, Sabina hugged him, and offered him a meal. They loved their enemies so well, when they had no reason to. The Wurmbrands, and other Christians tortured under communism that he describes had such a deep understanding of what God's love for us looks like.
In any event, he tells this story while in prison, and I found it very poignant:
"Do you know Tolstoy's story of how he once explained his faith point by point to a rabbi: meekness, humility, patience...'We don't need the New Testament for these virtues; we too honor them, ' said the rabbi. Finally Tolstoy said, 'Jesus has taught us one thing that the Jewish religion does not. He tells us to love our enemies.' 'This we do not practice,' admitted the rabbi, 'but neither do you Christians'"
What a blow, right?
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