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Musings on Faith #18 Forgetting, Too | |
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Thus saith the Lord, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12, KJV)." This is the promise to all who believe on the name of the Lord God of hosts and His Son, Jesus Christ. If we ask of Him forgiveness of our sins, he is faithful to forgive us, as we forgive those who have wronged or offended us. But God goes a step farther, and a very important step it is. He not only forgives; He also forgets. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:10-12, KJV)." The NIV says "he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (verse 10)," and, in verse 11, "so great is his love for those who fear him." What wonderful assurances these verses give us, what exquisite peace!
But we are not only receivers of God’s Word. We are also to be doers of His Word. Much is spoken of forgiveness, and we understand that in order to be forgiven we must "forgive those who trespass against us", but we are to endeavor to emulate God in every respect, and in the case of forgiveness that means that we are also to endeavor to forget. Many is the |
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time I have heard someone say, "Well I’ll forgive them, but I’m not going to forget." This is tantamount to saying "I’ll say ‘I forgive’, but I’m not gonna mean it." Now I know that the human mind is programmed to remember, and we may not be able to erase great offenses from the memory banks of our minds, but there are different levels of awareness and different ways of remembering. When we say "but I’m not going to forget" we set our minds to an active remembrance, which keeps us from genuine forgiveness. Rather, knowing that there is no "erase key" on the human keyboard, we should nevertheless endeavor, in so far as possible, to forget, and even in our remembering to have no rancor nor bitterness in our hearts toward that person. We may not be able, totally, to forget, but there should be no active feelings of ill will, woundedness, or retribution against them. I believe that if we strive to follow the Lord’s example, and if we can arrive at a place of mere subliminal awareness, rather than active, purposeful remembrance, He will be pleased with us, and we, moreover, will have peace in our own hearts, with ourselves, with God, and with that individual who, some time in the past, hurt or offended us. Obedience to God brings peace to our souls. Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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