Remembering to Forget

Then he (God) adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”   Heb 10:17 (NIV).  This is such a wonderful promise to every human being living on earth.  The biblical meaning of forget is "not to hold it against the person and let if affect your relationship."  David wrote in Ps 103:10 that God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  If He were to do so, I guess none of us would find our way into His holy presence.  Because of God's great love and because of Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, the psalmist David was able to say, "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."  (Ps 103:11-12).  The greatness of the depth of God's love is seen in the greatness of the expanse of sins removal.

In life, we may have encountered situations whereby people have treated us below our dignity.  We could be forced into doing things against our will or be terribly humiliated.  Being raped, kidnapped, robbed, imprisoned (esp believers living under repressive regimes) or forced into prostitution (people involved in this are known as traders of human flesh) are examples of the former.   Some examples of the latter would include being abused verbally or backstabbed by co-workers.  There are also cases whereby people feel that they have been cheated by others through acts of unfaithfulness. The reverse could also happen when we treat people less than what they ought to be treated.  Such encounters often engender fear and hatred towards those who have perpetrated such demeaning acts. 

It is definitely not an easy thing to forgive those who have hurt us the most.  How do you forgive someone who has tortured you and brought about the death of your sister?  Corrie ten Boom, who hid the Jews during the Nazi holocaust, suffered greatly under the Germans. Her sister, Betsie, died while interned in the Nazi concentration camps.  Many years later, Corrie spoke about forgiveness to a church audience where her perpetrator was in attendance.  When he stretched out his hand to shake hers at the doorway of the church, Corrie confessed her inability to raise her hand up but eventually did so through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.  As humans, we cannot forget the painful memories of the past but we can allow God to heal it by remembering to forget.  Inasmuch as God has freely forgiven us through the blood of Jesus Christ, we ought not to hold the sins of men (and women) against them.  Allow God to do His work of vindication in your life.

Let's be reminded of the scriptural injunction found in Rom 12:19-21, "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (NIV).  The Old Testament law was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Dt 19:21).  This meant that an equivalent punishment must be mete out to those who did harm to the people. However, under grace, this has been superseded by "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." (Matt 5:39-42).


"I can do all this through him who gives me strength."  (Phil 4:13)