06/10
Choose to Forgive
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12
The verse you just read is an easily misunderstood verse. This is actually a new testament quote of an old testament verse spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:34). Jeremiah was speaking the words of the Lord and declared that if the people of God would repent of their wickedness, God would forgive their sins and would remember those sins no more. A person could read that passage, whether in the New Testament or in the original Old Testament quote and interpret it to mean that God forgets about sin. That conclusion is not at all what this verse means, and it actually goes against the very nature of God. One of the aspects of the nature of God is that God is Omniscient, meaning that God is all-knowing. God knows everything that has ever happened or will ever happen and God cannot and does not forget anything.
With that in mind, it's a better understanding and translation of this verse to mean that while God remembers sin, even when a person repents, the blood of Jesus has now covered that sin. So while God still remembers your sin, He chooses not to hold it against you or judge you by it. Now, let's apply that to everyday life. There is a common saying related to forgiveness that says something like: "Let's let bygones be bygones and let's choose to forgive and forget". Did you know that the idea of forgive and forget does not come from Scripture? Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to forget what someone has done. This is a man-made saying, and even the idea of simply choosing to forget something is ridiculous if you think about it. How can we force our mind to forget something? It cannot be done no matter how hard we try. To forgive is right, and entirely possible and expected by God, but to forget is not.
The key here is that even though you remember how you were wronged, you can still choose to forgive the person who wronged you. Many people hold onto unforgiveness because they hold onto the memory or the feeling of when they were wronged. They say to themselves, "I can't forget this...therefore I can't forgive this. One day, if and when I forget and this memory fades away, maybe then I can come to a place of forgiveness." This is totally backward from what Jesus has instructed and modeled for us to do. Jesus remembered what the Roman soldiers did to him. It was as fresh as it could be in his mind, yet he still petitioned the Father to forgive them and not hold their sin against them. In the same way, we cannot link forgiving and forgetting together. We choose to forgive because we choose to obey God.
Hebrews 8:12
The verse you just read is an easily misunderstood verse. This is actually a new testament quote of an old testament verse spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:34). Jeremiah was speaking the words of the Lord and declared that if the people of God would repent of their wickedness, God would forgive their sins and would remember those sins no more. A person could read that passage, whether in the New Testament or in the original Old Testament quote and interpret it to mean that God forgets about sin. That conclusion is not at all what this verse means, and it actually goes against the very nature of God. One of the aspects of the nature of God is that God is Omniscient, meaning that God is all-knowing. God knows everything that has ever happened or will ever happen and God cannot and does not forget anything.
With that in mind, it's a better understanding and translation of this verse to mean that while God remembers sin, even when a person repents, the blood of Jesus has now covered that sin. So while God still remembers your sin, He chooses not to hold it against you or judge you by it. Now, let's apply that to everyday life. There is a common saying related to forgiveness that says something like: "Let's let bygones be bygones and let's choose to forgive and forget". Did you know that the idea of forgive and forget does not come from Scripture? Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to forget what someone has done. This is a man-made saying, and even the idea of simply choosing to forget something is ridiculous if you think about it. How can we force our mind to forget something? It cannot be done no matter how hard we try. To forgive is right, and entirely possible and expected by God, but to forget is not.
The key here is that even though you remember how you were wronged, you can still choose to forgive the person who wronged you. Many people hold onto unforgiveness because they hold onto the memory or the feeling of when they were wronged. They say to themselves, "I can't forget this...therefore I can't forgive this. One day, if and when I forget and this memory fades away, maybe then I can come to a place of forgiveness." This is totally backward from what Jesus has instructed and modeled for us to do. Jesus remembered what the Roman soldiers did to him. It was as fresh as it could be in his mind, yet he still petitioned the Father to forgive them and not hold their sin against them. In the same way, we cannot link forgiving and forgetting together. We choose to forgive because we choose to obey God.
TODAY'S CHALLENGE
Take some time today to pray and humble yourself by acknowledging your need for God throughout this healing process. How has God already started to change your perspective since you first started this series?