Corrie Ten Boom Quotes

Whatever in our life is hardest to bear, love can transform into beauty. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Children need the wisdom of their elders; the aging need the encouragement of a child's exuberance. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The human spirit fails, except when the Holy Spirit fills. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Thank you," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas and for-"

The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."

"Give thanks in all circumstances," she quoted. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."

And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

But more than that, I felt - no, not beautiful. Even on such a romantic day as this I could not persuade myself of that. I knew that my jaw was too square, my legs too long, my hands too large. But I earnestly believed - and all the books agreed - that I would look beautiful to the man who loved me. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

I would much rather be the trusting child of a rich Father, than a beggar at the door of worldly men. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Surely there is no more wretched sight that the human body unloved and uncared for. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

If God has called you, do not spend time looking over your shoulder to see who is following you. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

At last either Betsie or I would open the Bible. Because only the Hollanders could understand the Dutch text, we would translate aloud in German. And then we would hear the life-giving words passed back along the aisles in French, Polish, Russian, Czech, back into Dutch. They were little previews of heaven, these evenings beneath the lightbulb. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

When you are covered by His wings, it can get pretty dark. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And so I learned that love is larger than the walls that shut it in ~ Corrie Ten Boom

No matter how deep our darkness, he is deeper still. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

We are not a postwar generation, but a pre-peace generation. Jesus is coming. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And while from inside we would hear coughs and stirrings, there was never a rustle in the listeners out the door. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

...suddenly I was afraid of what Father would say. Afraid he would say, "There'll be someone else soon," and that forever afterward this untruth would lie between us. For in some deep part of me I knew already that there would not--soon or ever--be anyone else.

The sweet cigar-smell came into the room with Father. And of course he did not say the false, idle words.

"Corrie," he began instead, "do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain.

"There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.

"God loves Karel--even more than you do--and if you ask Him, He will give you His love for this man, a love nothing can prevent, nothing destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us his perfect way."

I did not know, as I listened to Father's footsteps winding back down the stairs, that he had given me more than the key to this hard moment. I did not know that he had put into my hands the secret that would open far darker rooms than this--places where there was not, on a human level, anything to love at all. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

I have never met anybody who was sorry that they asked Jesus into their heart. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

We must mirror God's love in the midst of a world full of hatred. We are the mirrrors of God's love, so we may show Jesus by our lives ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Of course it was not my wholeness, but Christ's that made the difference. The ~ Corrie Ten Boom

One day as Father and I were returning from our walk we found the Grote Markt cordoned off by a double ring of police and soldiers. A truck was parked in front of the fish mart; into the back were climbing men, women, and children, all wearing the yellow star ...
"Father! Those poor people!" I cried ...
"Those poor people," Father echoed. But to my surprise I saw that he was looking at the solders now forming into ranks to march away. "I pity the poor Germans, Corrie. They have touched the apple of God's eye. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

If the enemy cannot make you BAD, he'll make you BUSY. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And suddenly I realized that this too was a message, a last wordless communication among neighbors. For I, too, had a hiding place when things were bad. Jesus was this place, the Rock cleft for me. I pressed a finger to the tiny crevice. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

God dealt with our whole situation on the cross; there is nothing left for you to settle. Just say to Him, Lord, I cannot forgive and I will no longer try to do it; but I trust that You in me will do it. I can't forgive and love; but I trust that You will forgive and love in my place and that You will do these things in me. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

God never measures the mind ... He always put His tape measure in the HEART ~ Corrie Ten Boom

corkscrew staircase squeezed ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free, only to find out that the prisoner was me. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

when we've lost a friend, when a dream has failed, when we seem to have nothing left in the world to make life beautiful - that's when God says, You're richer than you think. Elizabeth ~ Corrie Ten Boom

God only make plans, no problems. In heaven, there is never panic. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The tree on the mountain takes whatever the weather brings. If it has any choice at all, it is in putting down roots as deeply as possible.
Each New Day ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Nobody can take away from you those texts from the Bible which you have learned by heart. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? ~ Corrie Ten Boom

How rich is anyone who can simply see human faces. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Love is larger than the walls which shut it in. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are lead. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

It hurts when God has to PRY things out of our hand! ~ Corrie Ten Boom

There is an ocean of Gods love available-there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love-whatever the circumstances. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

(on forgiveness) Didn't he and I stand together before an all seeing God convicted of the same murder? For I had murdered him with my heart and my tongue. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Lord, You turn the wheels of the galaxies. You know what makes the planets spin and You know what makes this watch run. . . ." The ~ Corrie Ten Boom

I became the first licensed woman watchmaker in Holland. And ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Some knowledge is too heavy ... you cannot bear it ... your Father will carry it until you are able. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Oh, this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil one could almost believe one's own secret sin didn't matter. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get too
busy. But he trembles when we pray-especially when we pray together. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

I looked on Jesus and the dove of peace entered my heart. I looked at the dove of peace; and lo ... off he went. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

His will is our hiding place. Lord Jesus, keep me in your will! Don't let me go mad by poking about outside of it! ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - Oh ~ Corrie Ten Boom

There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The safest place to be is in the center of God's will. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Because of something she heard in school, Corrie asked her father what "sex sin" was while the two of them were riding on a train together. The father asked the little girl to carry his bag off the train. When she admitted that she could not do so, he said he would not be much of a father to expect this of her. The load was too heavy. This was the case, he said, with some knowledge. She needed to trust her father to give her knowledge at the right time. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Hold loosely to the things of this life, so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

When I try, I fail.
When I trust,
He succeeds. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Conny and I stood in line, along with other people, outside Checkpoint Charlie, the gate for foreigners into East Berlin. Many of those in line were Dutch, and I saw they were being passed without difficulty. Everything seemed routine: Hand your passport to a guard, walk down the line, and receive your passport back with a stamp that allowed you to spend the one day in East Berlin. I hoped it would be as easy for us when it was our turn to be checked. Finally we were in front of the window. The guard looked at our passports, looked in a book and then turned and said something to another man behind him. "Is there a problem?" I asked the man. He turned and gave me a stern look. "Come with ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Does being born into a Christian family make one a Christian? No! God has no grandchildren. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

In this dark world, the Lord Jesus gave us the task of passing on His love ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Don't worry about what you do not understand ... Worry
about what you do understand in the Bible, but do not
live by. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

But always they featured things we believed were wrong in the sight of God. Stealing, lying, murder. Was this what God wanted in times like these? How should a Christian act when evil was in power? ~ Corrie Ten Boom

What feeds the soul matters as much as what feeds the body. In ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Only to those who have been in prison does freedom have such great meaning. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

When you want to work for God start a committee. When you want to work with God start a prayer group ~ Corrie Ten Boom

As an inmate of a concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom heard a commotion, and saw a short distance away a prison guard mercilessly beating a female prisoner. "What can we do for these people?" Corrie whispered. "Show them that love is greater," Betsie replied. In that moment, Corrie realized her sister's focus was on the prison guard, not the victim she was watching. Betsie saw the world through a different lens. She considered the actions of greatest moral gravity to be the ones we originate, not the ones we suffer. ~ Terryl L. Givens

This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Forgiveness to letting go of a bell rope. If you have ever seen a country church with a bell in the steeple, you will remember that to get the bell ringing you have to tug awhile. Once it has begun to ring, you merely maintain the momentum. As long as you keep pulling, the bell keeps ringing. Forgiveness is letting go of the rope. It is just that simple. But when you do so, the bell keeps ringing. Momentum is still at work. However, if you keep your hands off the rope, the bell will begin to slow and eventually stop. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. Corrie Ten Boom ~ Corrie Ten Boom

You know, eternal life does not start when we go to heaven. It starts the moment you reach out to Jesus. He never turns His back on anyone. And He is waiting for you ... ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Your love in me is stronger than the hatred. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Do not worry about tomorrow - He is the God of tomorrow, He sees the end from the beginning. Do not worry about the necessities of life - He is there to supply and provide. A true victorious Christian is one who, in spite of worries, inner conflicts, and tensions, is confident that God is in control and will be victorious in the end. In reliance on the Holy Spirit, we will find that many of our physical and mental ailments will disappear along with many worries, inner conflicts, and tensions. Whatever our difficulties, whatever our circumstances, we must remember, as Corrie ten Boom used to say, "Jesus is victor!" Our Father and our God, I praise Your glorious name for sending Jesus Christ, who is the Victor eternal. He is the mighty One; He is the holy One; He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Master of my soul and the Guide for my life. And He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah! Praise the name of Jesus! In Him I pray. Amen. ~ Billy Graham

Books do not age as you and I do. They will speak still when you and I are gone, to generations we will never see. Yes, the books must survive. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Lord, we claim your strength to serve you, no matter what our circumstances may be. Amen. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

It was strange that a society which hid the facts of sex from children made no effort to shield them from death. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

We can't solve problems for others. We can introduce them to the Lord. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Books do not age as you or I do, they will speak on to generations we will never see. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

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 ... Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness ... 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. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Dear Jesus, I thank You that we must come with empty hands. I thank You that You have done all -all- on the cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

What a sad mistake we sometimes make when we think that God only cares about Christians. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - let us pray that we may always know it! ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Satan sometimes suggests that an offering will satisfy God, when in fact He is demanding our all. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

There is explosive power in virtue. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Worry is like racing the engine of an automobile without letting in the clutch. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, "Father, what is sexsin?"
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
It's too heavy," I said.
Yes," he said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet, there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Of Bloemendaal was said to be one of the most beautiful in Holland. I had never seen it, only the trees at ~ Corrie Ten Boom

What joy that the Bible tells us the great comfort that the best is yet to be. Our outlook goes beyond this world. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

How often it is a small, almost unconscious event that makes a turning point. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Love is the strongest force in the world. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The minister spoke in a well-modulated voice. Then we joined in singing. I could not help but make comparisons: the dirty prison dormitory, infection-ridden and filthy, the beds full of lice, and now this. Clean sheets and pillow cases and a spotless floor. The hoarse voices of the slave drivers and the mature, melodious voice of the minister. Only the singing was the same, for we had sung at Ravensbruck. Singing was one of the ways we kept up our courage. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

.....joy runs deeper than despair. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Four marks of true repentance are: acknowledgement of wrong, willingness to confess it, willingness to abandon it, and willingness to make restitution. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

What I spent, I had; what I saved, I lost; what I gave, I have. ~ Corrie Ten Boom