You Forgive, God Makes us Forget

"Forgive and Forget, Forgive and Forget."

How many of us have heard this litany in our lives?

Did you know that the Bible does not say "forgive and forget?"

Did you know that the Bible does not even tell you to forgive, or else God will not forgive us.

"But the Bible says. . . "

It is important to rightly divide the Word of God. Jesus did say:

"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6: 15)

Jesus said this while the Old Covenant was still in effect. He also to his listeners that if they were angry without a cause, or if they even lusted in their heart, they were guilty of murder and adultery.

Jesus was bringing the law back to its pristine and impossible height, for to forgive requires grace, and grace is a gift that we receive when we cease from our striving.

Under the New Covenant, we receive this grace because we have been forgiven:

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4 :32)

The more we understand how His forgiveness covers everything, and through His grace we receive Jesus' same standing, then "we" no longer try to forgive, but release others to further God's grace growing in our lives.

"But the feelings still linger! I am still angry at that person!"

One of the elements of living by grace through faith is that we no longer identity with our feelings. In effect, "you" are no longer angry at that person. You do not have to do anything about those feelings, because in Christ, you are made a new creation

We do not have to do anything about our feelings, either.

For this reason, Paul wrote:

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Romans 6: 11)

Forgiveness if provided because every wrong you have committed and that was committed by someone else has been paid for at the Cross.

When you forgive, God will cause you to forget, because He has taken the hit for your hurts:

"51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis 41: 51-52)

In your heavenly Joseph, God has forgotten all your sins and made you fruitful. He will cause you to forget and grow in grace.