I'll just start by saying that I had a thought; in order to forgive you have to choose to forget!
This got me thinking and writing to see what would come out of the flow.
What is the flow you might ask? Well:
I sometimes have a subject in my mind that I cannot fully understand and process unless I write it down. What then happens is there will be a flow of thought coming to me that I have to write down. The next thought only comes when the first one is written out. And I stop writing when the thoughts stop. Sometimes it can be pages long and other times just one page.
The thought are a result of a topic I am wrestling with in my emotional or spiritual life. I see it as God's voice that is guiding me through a specific situation at hand. I really feel that after a time of struggling I grow after the flow. I mature in a certain area. So I love the flow...
This topic is : " The Power to Forget is the Power to Forgive"
So..in order to forgive you have to be able to forget! The world always says: "you forgive but never forget"
In some major world issues this is correct for educational purposes.
In personal relations we desire to be like Jesus. But many of us have difficulty forgiving. We forgive conditionally. Until the next offence. We then repeat all past failures and hurt all over again. So although at the time we have said we forgive, we have not really forgiven. We can stop talking about hurtful situations but obviously continue to harbour painful emotions.
If we truly want to be more like Jesus and do what Jesus does we have to take His example in forgiving us.
How does He forgive? Some scripture on how He forgives us...
* "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" Psalm 103:12
* "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remember your sins no more Isaiah 43:25
* For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12
But what do we do? Our forgivesness is only valid till the next offence. We then start to repeat all past offences. We go digging to prove our point. We don't keep to the situation at hand to resolve, forgive and forget.
There is a saying in Dutch, which translates, "Bring up old cows out of the gutter". Old cows in the gutter are dead and stinking. The gutter is a toxic place, so these past hurts we bring up only cause more emotional pain, bitterness and damage.
God does not bring up our old offences after we have confessed them, and he has forgiven them. He holds no records anymore. He remembers them no more. He forgets them.
Jesus says in Math. 18:21-22 to forgive seventy times seven times. This is not easy if we cannot wipe out past offences; if we keep holding on to them within our emotions, although we say we forgive.
We can really forgive when we do what God does. He remembers our sins no more! We have to choose to forget. We have to choose to say, "It does not matter". When we classify stuff as unimportant we forget them quicker.
I am not saying that you can only forgive after you have forgotten. Its like when someone stands on your toes the pain is still there, but you choose to say, its OK, it does not matter. Even if the person does not apologise. What is the point of holding on to the pain? Forgiveness is something you do for yourself. It does not affect the other person. It enables you to move on. We can start fresh and new every day.
This makes the commandment, "don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry", Ephesians 4:26, easier....
We will not keep getting hurt by thinking of past hurts and they will have no effect on our future....
God bless!
