That's a nice thought if it were possible. People say it but is it true? I don't think it is. I've never been able to forgive and forget. I have forgiven much but it is IMPOSSIBLE to forget! I remember stuff from elementary school, Jr. High, High School, in marriage...on and on and those things are forgiven. Well, mostly. I'm still ticked a Robbie Guitierez. When I was 13 that punk had the nerve to....ah, never mind. I've gotten over it but those moments are permanently etched into my psyche. I can't forget. As a matter of fact, the more I TRY to forget the more I remember. The more I TRY to put those past memories out of my mind the more I think about them. I can't win!!
How is this supposed to work then? How can I forgive without forgetting? I think it's tied up in the very nature of forgiveness itself. Does forgiveness demand forgetfulness? Or is forgiveness even more powerful when the memory is still engaged?
Does God forgive and forget? How can He? He's God! He can't forget anything, yet He forgives! Psalm 103:11-12 says that He loves me as far as the heavens are above the earth! THAT'S FAR! THAT'S A LOT OF LOVE!! It also says that He separates my sin from me as far as the east is from the west. THAT'S FAR TOO! So wait a minute. The Bible doesn't say God forgets my sin but He does separate it from me AND He loves me infinitely?? Pretty cool stuff.
So what I think this all means is, God doesn't forget. He sees me as I am every moment of every day and knows what a jerk I am. He knows what a jerk I was yesterday. He remembers the times I have betrayed Him and not once but over and over and over again. He doesn't forget that. But He does love me in a HUGE way and He forgives me too. That is POWERFUL! That is the power of true forgiveness. It would be easy to love me if He were forgetful. All those filthy actions of my past (even yesterday) aren't even in His mind. He forgot! He just sees me today and today I was not a jerk, I don't think. But He doesn't forget. When He looks at me He sees me as I really am and He remembers...EVERYTHING! But He still loves me in spite of all of that. He loves me knowing what I have the capability of doing and with the certainty that I will turn on Him again. Yet, He still loves me as far as the heavens are above the earth. That is true forgiveness and it is REAL!
I don't know if I can forgive like that but I want to learn how. I want to forgive knowing that I can't forget. I'll never forget. But the power of forgiveness is in the knowing not the forgetting and choosing to love anyway. Thanks God for having a great memory and loving me anyway.
