The Bible never said forgive and forget

People often say forgive and forget but the Bible never said so. To be honest, humans don't have the capacity to forget though they may genuinely forgive.

As children of God, forgiveness is not optional, it is a prerequisite. God in His infinite mercy knows that no man can forget the evil done to him/her but he/she can forgive. God is the only One that forgives and forgets our transgressions and He does so for His own sake, because He is God. He can wipe away any memory He wants to wipe and can keep which ever one He wishes to, there's nothing impossible with God.

Isaiah 43:25 says; "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more". He did not say you but He said I will forgive you and I will forget what you have done because the moment you come to me in repentance, I choose not to remember your past sins again and that's only for my sake and His reason is that He loves you. That's God, not a man and no man can do that. A man's memory will always recall the good or bad done to him. There's a popular saying in town, that people will never forget how you made them feel.

Now, let's be honest with ourselves, has someone ever done you wrong and you forgave the person but have you forgot the wrong that was done to you? No right! I believe you must have remembered one wrong that someone did to you now. Whether you like it or yes, you forgave but you didn't wipe away the memory of that wrong, though you no longer feel hurt neither do you want to pay back but at times, you make reference to it, using that incident as an example either to teach someone to forgive or to draw a lesson, so that means you didn't forget it but you forgave.

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So, to forgive, means; to let go, let go of the pain and the wrong the person made you suffer. It means that whenever you remember what happened, you no longer feel bad or broken, you don't think of hurting the person in anyway, you don't cry when you talk about it.

So, when someone says forgive and forget, the person is simply asking you to let go, don't feel that pain anymore, don't give the offender the joy of getting you sad, don't let the devil plant evil seeds in you through that hurt, even when you remember it don't think of paying back with evil because forgiveness is not forgetfulness but being free from hatred, bitterness and anger.

Let's look at what Jesus had to say about forgiveness. In Matthew 6:12 'And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors'. Matthew 18 :22 'Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven'.

You can clearly see that Jesus never mentioned that we should forget but He commanded us to forgive. Please! don't get me wrong. Am just trying to pass this as simple as I can.

Forgiveness is a commandment. We must forgive!

What are the Benefits of Forgiveness?

1. God will also forgive you your sins. Failure to forgive others you deny yourself God's forgiveness as seen in Matthew 6:9

2. You free your heart

3. It takes away burden, hatred and fear

4. You enjoy God's perfect peace and love

5. Hindrances are removed

In conclusion, there is no sin in this world that is beyond forgiveness. Jesus said you should forgive 490 times in a day. Wow! Be honest, who has ever offended you 6 times in a day not to mention 70 times 7?

Learn to forgive so God will also forgive you. I hope you have been blessed?