Saturday, December 15, 2012

One Key To Forgiveness

I was just taking a shower and thinking about this, so here it is.

The other day, a friend of mine reminded me of something hurtful I had said years ago.

This was in the midst of an argument, so emotions were already running high. I had two responses immediately present themselves. I could acknowledge the hurtful thing I said and try to seek forgiveness for it, or I could try to recall something hurtful that my friend has said to me.

Well I was genuinely sorry, so I just apologized and said that it was a horrible thing for me to have said. Perhaps you have said something to a loved one, that came out not only wrong, but hurtful, and probably should not have been said at all. But it leaves the mouth, and then has to be dealt with.

While I was in the shower, I was still tempted to recall something hurtful that my friend had said about me. I know for a fact this friend has said many things that have hurt me, but I still refuse to try to remember any of them. I will not allow myself to try to access those memories.

In "the love chapter", Paul makes this statement.."Love keeps no record of wrongs."

You may have heard a christian say that God forgets your sin when you ask him for forgiveness, but I don't think this is the case. I don't think God "forgets" anything, purposely or not. What the bible says is that "He remembers them no more." Have you ever "lost" your keys? What do you try to do? You begin to try to pull from your mind it's location by recalling and retracing your steps, because it's likely that your brain actually does know where the keys are, you just have to try to remember where you left them.

Forgetting is something that happens, remembering is something you actively engage in. So when you forgive someone for something they have said or done, what you are telling them is that you will not keep that thing in remembrance. You will not actively try to hold on or recall that thing for which you are forgiving them, and more importantly, you will treat them as if they have never done that thing.