“Does God care more about my future than my past? Plus, I know He forgives my sins but does He really forget them?” he asks me and I am a little more than ashamed and embarrassed that this young man is asking questions I hadn’t bothered to seek answers to before. Knowing that truth is the only thing that satisfies a questioning heart, my search began innocently enough.
The bible revealed that the answer is yes. God is more about our future than our past. This is backed up by Psalm 103:11-12 ~ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
But hold on, there is a catch.
Look closely at verse 11. Do you see where God has placed a condition on this promise? He does that to all the really good ones and FYI, they’ll all really good ones. Pastors, bishops, elders and laypersons alike frequently announce how we are leaning on the promises but tend to completely overlook our part of the deal. See, with this particular promise, the deal is: If we fear the Lord, He will then, remove our transgressions from us. Thus making Him all about where He is taking us and not holding up our past to us as a hurtful reminder of what we have done wrong. Yet, if we do not fear God, this promise is null and void.
The Bible goes on to state that when one truly repents to the Lord and asks for forgiveness, that not only are our sins forgiven but that our sins are then “cast into the sea of forgetfulness”. Mentioned here in Micah 7:19: “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea and here in Hebrews 8: 12 it states, For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” It looks like God makes up His mind to forget.
Forgiveness can be a real stumbling block for many of us. When we’ve been hurt deeply it can take a very long time to forgive the one we feel has wronged us. Sometimes, entire lifetimes don’t seem long enough. However God challenges us to become more like Him. So how do we not only forgive hurts but also forget that they have ever occurred?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
I don’t know if we were truely ment to forget. If we have learned a lesson in life and forgot what ever happened in the first place, or that we have learned a lesson at all, how easy would it be to go back. The other thought is if we forget what we have done, forget what happened, and the concequences, how would we reach out to others. If we forget these things how can we truely walk along and help others and do life with each other? If we forget all these, would we have true compassion and understanding for others. We can be asured that He will not hold us acountable or lieable for those sins we have confessed and asked forgiveness of. There are so many different beliefs on this subject. My husband grew up in a Mennonite church and they believed that you forgive and forget – to a very strick degree. It has caused huge dissagreements for us. I love the book The Excelent Wife and The Wonded Heart they both deal with hurts and how to deal and handle the difficult situations. The Excelent Wife deals with husbands and wives , but it can give great insight to other relationships also. The Wondeed Heart deals with sexual abuse, but it can be applied to so many hurts we experience in life.
Brenda, I love your devotionals!
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