Forgive and Forget
Apr 30, 2018 2100
When God forgives our sins, he both forgives and forgets:
I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more (Isa 43:25, NIV).
This doesn’t mean that God literally forgets, because God is omniscient, which means he always knows everything. That means that he always remembers everything. What this means is that God, from the moment he has forgiven us, treats us for all intents and purposes as if we had never ever wronged him. He restores us completely to the standing we had with him before we fell.
The ideal is God’s way of forgiving. The ideal is to forgive and forget as he does. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5).
However, it isn’t possible for us to “forgive and forget” in the same way that God does, because we aren’t God. We simply aren’t perfect like God.
Also, it can take us a long time to heal from the wounds that someone has inflicted on us – the results in our lives of the hurts we have suffered. It isn’t possible to actually forget what has been done to us in an absolute way. We all have memories.
It’s good to remember that when we have been hurt by others, God treats us as parents treat their little children who have been hurt by someone else – with mercy, sympathy, and love. He knows that we need time to heal from our wounds.
What we can do is to “forgive and forget” in the sense of taking the decision that you will choose to forgive the person who has wronged you for the sake of Jesus Christ, and move on with your life.
It doesn’t happen right away. It’s a process.
That’s not an easy decision. You know that you will still carry the hurt with you. You know that you still need to heal. But once you come to the place where you decide to forgive someone from your heart, something very special happens. God heals your wounds.
It doesn’t happen right away. It’s a process. But as you pray for more grace and kindness – the grace to forgive and keep on forgiving – God sends his grace into your life more and more. And as your own wounded heart is healed, you will more and more see the other person as God sees them… both forgiving AND forgetting… treating them as if they had never sinned against you. We must never let a root of bitterness spring up in our hearts (Heb 12:15).
However, all of this doesn’t mean that the wrongs someone has done against you don’t have consequences. Depending on how you have been wronged, there may be lasting consequences. God doesn’t want you to wrongly expose yourself to more hurt. For example, a rape victim is right to view the perpetrator in a different light after the offence, and to take precautions. It is right that a child abuser not be allowed to hold positions in which they will be in unsupervised contact with children. Wrong-doing has consequences. But forgiveness is something else.
“Forgiving and forgetting” refers to how you treat a person within your heart. You can choose to forgive; to not hold the offence of the person against them personally. When you do that, the Spirit of God will start a process in your heart by which the hard edges of your hurt will be softened. And then, with time, when you remember what happened, it will be without bitterness towards the other person. God’s grace allows you to both forgive the offense and to heal the hurt.
None of this is easy. It can be the hardest thing in the world. But by the grace of God we can overcome all things.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Alvin Gaye
May 8, 2018
Thank you ever so much for this presentation. This topic is mean much more to me. I can't stop reading it over and again. It's true, to forgive and forget seem difficult many times but by the grace of God we can do all things.
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 7, 2018
You're welcome Celine, in the name of Jesus. We all have much to forgive (I do too), and the only truth that focuses us in the right way is how much we ourselves have been forgiven. And yes, it is a process, but through the Spirit of God, the healing will occur. Grace and peace, Eliezer
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 7, 2018
Indeed, this is who God calls us to be! Grace and peace, Eliezer
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 7, 2018
I praise the Lord that his through his Spirit he has reached your heart! Grace and peace, Eliezer
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 7, 2018
Thank you for your wise comment.
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 7, 2018
Very true.
David Clark
May 7, 2018
Unforgiveness will build bitterness and will be like an acid, that will eat the cup it is in.
David Clark
May 7, 2018
We learn through the example of Jesus, how to act and feel about people who we think have wronged us. In Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." Matthew 6:14,15 KJV "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Our feelings must be overcome in obedience, we are not meant to be led by our emotions, we are to be led by the Holy Spirit and the example of Christ. Let your heart be conformed into the heart of Christ. As we practice the heart of Jesus, it will over time be who we are.
Daniel Thiaine
May 6, 2018
Thank you very much for this article. I remember the wrong thing some people did to me, not once or twice, but often. I couldn't ever have thought of forgiving them. But God is great. After reading this article, it is finished, and I am free. Praise be to God!
Tom Durst
May 6, 2018
This is really a helpful presentation on "forgive and forget." Thank you so much for sharing thoughts that clarify and facilitate healing for God's precious children who are conscientious and desire to do His will fully.
Jacob Mahama
May 6, 2018
May God grant us such hearts to live as worthy ambassadors to the end, amen.
Celine Chester
May 6, 2018
Thank you Pastor for this wonderful post. I had to forgive a loved one, someone dear to me last year but I am not forgetting and I was so concerned about that. I keep asking the holy spirit to help me because I thought that I did not fully forgive that is why I am remembering certain things nearly everyday. Thank you so much. This post has helped a lot to understand how the process works and it is a process indeed, sometimes so so painful. I thank God everyday for His faithfulness to see me through. Blessings to you, Pastor Gonzalez
Eliezer Gonzalez
May 8, 2018
Yes my brother. This topic is a central one in my life as well. Grace and peace, Eliezer