Choosing Not to Remember

Today my pastor preached on grace, and he said something that really stuck with me. He was talking about how often we hear that old saying "forgive and forget." Then he said, "God doesn't forget our sins. He just chooses not to remember them. He chooses not to appoint them to us."

This makes so much more sense to me than saying that God forgets our sins. God is omnipotent, and all-knowing, so how can He be forgetful? I don't think He can. But He can choose not to remember our sins, not to focus on them or use them against us. When we live under God's grace, this is exactly what He does. If I asked Him, certainly He could rattle off every single bad thing I've ever done; but because I have chosen to accept His free gift of grace, He chooses not to.

I think we have to learn to do the same. Forgive and forget doesn't work for me. When it comes to being wronged, my mind can be like a steel trap. I haven't forgotten the ways I've been hurt by others -- oftentimes many years after the fact. However, I can choose to think about all the wrong that has been done to me and remember it every time that person's name comes up in conversation or every time we meet. I can even try to use it to my favor if the two of us happen to get into an argument. Or I can choose not to remember it, not to bring it up again, not to use it against them -- just as I wouldn't want the other person to use any of my past failings against me.

I'm going to work on choosing not to remember the faults and sins of others, just as in Christ, God has chosen not to remember mine.