This is a subject that comes up quite often and we tend to ignore this subject, because of varied reasons. It is hard to forgive at times, but much harder to forget. Some thoughts on this to contemplate……………..

Forgiving and Forgetting 2015-150

I was discussing this subject with a friend and decided to post it as a form of thought. We were talking  about forgiving and forgetting in the context of humans, but I believe God was brought into the equation also. So the below is taken from my email to him, which I thought I would share……….

I have been thinking about this. It is one thing to forgive someone, just as I believe God does when we pray and ask for forgiveness of our sins, such as during the Lord’s Prayer.

I think we were bringing up, does God then forget the sin that was forgiven or do we, when someone does a dastardly act to us, do we forget the act even after we say we have forgiven them for doing it.

As for God, I believe he can choose NOT to remember the sin, but he does not lose them from His memory. He would put them aside; He would ignore them and not bring them up after we have repented.  For us as humans, we could, if we love a person, for instance, choose not to act in revenge for the act done to us. If we do this, the memory itself would tend to decline, even if it is not completely forgotten.

God, even though He has not forgotten, decides to forgo prosecuting us for the sins we have done. This allows us to see the understanding of God’s expectations of us for them.  In the same respect for us humans, this would free us; free us from things like revenge against the other person. I would think that the freeing gives us a chance to discern the difference between remembering with a vengeful heart versus remembering to make life better for each of us.

It takes more love to be hurt and choose not to remember, by forgetting, than remembering over and over again what ever happened. Maybe God’s absolute love for us, really does absolutely remove our sins from his infinite mind.

Some quotes on this subject:

“To forgive takes love, to forget takes humility” per Mother Teresa

“Remember, when you forgive, you heal. And when you let go (forget) you grow.” Unknown

“The FIRST to Apologize is the bravest. The FIRST to Forgive is the strongest. The FIRST to Forget is the happiest.   Unknown

“To forgive and not forget is like burying the hatchet with the handle sticking out.” U nknown

“The Stupid neither forgive nor forget; the Naïve forgive and forget; the Wise forgive, but do not forget” Unknown      —–Two sides in everything and in all minds……..

What does your mind think?

Peace

Den

 

I researched this on the Net from various sources, but do not remember which ones or where right now. Suffice to say, I am not that smart to think many things out myself so give thanks to anyone that helped me formulate my thoughts on this subject.