forgiveness is not forgetting…

forgiveness is not forgetting what happened. some of you have been afraid to forgive somebody who hurt you in your life because you don’t want to forget it. you’ve all heard the cliché “forgive and forget”. isn’t that nice? it sounds so sweet! forgive and forget. the only problem is it’s impossible to do. it’s impossible. it’s foolish and illogical.

in the first place, it’s impossible to try to forget something. you can’t try to forget anything. when you’re trying to forget something, what are you focusing on? the very thing you want to forget. and whatever you focus on, you tend to move toward.

the fact is, your brain stores every single memory you’ve ever had. doctors, brain surgeons, scientists know that if they were to open up your brain and take a probe and stimulate a certain part, they can bring back every single memory you’ve ever had in vivid color. your brain does not forget anything.

it can be pushed down from trauma. it can be repressed. it can be put in the deep recesses of your mind. but your brain doesn’t really ever forget anything. in fact, the only way to forget something is to replace it. you can’t try to forget anything. you have to try to put something in its place.

i want to say, though, that there’s something better than forgetting. this will take you to a new level of spiritual maturity. it’s remembering but realizing how GOD can bring good even out of bad.

you can’t thank GOD for something you’ve forgotten. you can thank GOD in something you’ve forgotten. thank GOD that even though this terrible thing happened to me and it hurt a lot, i believe YOU could turn around and use it for good. and YOU could actually use me in the same situation. and all the many ways that we’ve talked about how GOD could bring good out of bad. romans 8.28 talks about how all things are not good – in fact, there’s a lot of bad in the world. but all things work together for good.

this is the difference between forgetting and letting go. you remember it, but you let it go. the bible talks about letting go of the pain, letting go of the hurt, letting go of the resentment, letting go of the bitterness, not holding on to it. but that’s not forgetting. because you never will forget. in fact, the more painful something has happened in your life, the more likely it is that you’re going to remember it.

some people think, “when am i going to get to the point spiritually where i forget all those hurts?” you’re not going to get there. the key is not forgetting. the key is learning to see it through the lens of grace and through the lens of GOD’s sovereignty and through the lens of how GOD can turn even bad things into good in your life if you’ll trust HIM and you learn to respond in the right way. so it’s not forgetting what’s happened.

just a thought from the front porch…