And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:32
We frequently hear the phrase “I will forgive, but I will never forget” from people. It’s awful to think in this way since it means that someone else is now in charge of your life and you are no longer in control.
Failure to forget forces you to constantly relive the anguish and pain, and failure to forget means you will probably try to recall the event, further aggravating the original wounds. Imagine that when you get up and get ready to leave for work, your bag is a backpack with the label “Things I must hold on to today.” It is difficult to put on, but you strive to put it on and wear it with pride, occasionally realizing how heavy this burden is, but you brush it off and assert that you are correct and the other person is wrong.
Sadly, because the weight becomes a part of you as you go about your day, occasionally your brain even forgets that you are still carrying the backpack. Instead, your body will make you aware of the weight it is carrying, and your brain will rationalize the extra weight even though it is harmful to your health.
Friends, if this scenario accurately describes your actions, you are battling with a spirit of pride, which has resulted in the distasteful fruit of unforgiveness in your life. Other unpleasant fruits can result from clinging to a prideful spirit.
Dear friend, I want to exhort you to let go of the past and move forward in peace, hope, and faith.
I must also remind you that we were all born in sin (Psalms 51:5) and that God cannot pardon you if you do not pardon others (Matthew 6:15). Furthermore, according to Psalms 103:10–12, “He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” His mercy toward those who fear him is as vast as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our offenses from us “as far as the east is from the west,” which reveals God’s nature to us. By demonstrating genuine forgiveness, we take on God’s nature and allow Him to work in our lives. On the Christian path, normalizing phrases like “I forgive you” or “I am sorry” is crucial because pride cannot endure in God’s presence. Romans 8:38–39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God does not want any of us to perish and be lost because of our refusal to forget, forgive, and turn from our sins.
As the song says, “Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.”
