Are
You Forgetful?
Are you forgetful? This is a question I ask myself many times. And
I praise God for his faithfulness in instructing me that I must
forget those offenses that have been brought up against me...
So often in our stands we go on and on concerning those things our
spouses (and other people in our lives) have done in the past. So
many times I hear this person saying but my husband did this and
my wife did that; only to realize as I listen, a heaviness weighing
heavy upon my heart.
I look at the life of Joseph, as a young boy his brothers were jealous
and resentful of him to the point of hatred in their hearts. As
you know his brothers sold him off into slavery (They opted out
of murdering him). Yet God kept his mighty hand on the boy’s
life. Joseph found favor with Potiphar for a time and held good
position within his household until the enemy who wanted to thwart
God's plan for Joseph's life used Potiphar's wife so that Joseph
wound up in prison. For a time, Joseph was in this prison yet still
overcame and later became second only to Pharaoh in the land of
Egypt. I am sure you know the story and in the world Joseph could
have held on to resentment for what his brothers did to him, maybe
even had every right to in world thinking. Joseph could have been
bitter, he could have allowed hate to take over his life, yet Joseph
held on to the dream that God had given him, more importantly he
held on to the one who inspired the dream...by God's mercy and love,
Joseph did not dwell on the past:
I believe, Joseph gave up his right to hold on to the offense.
Genesis 41:51
Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For
God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s
house.”
I have found when we forgive anyone it is essential to forget that
offense as well. True forgiveness comes from forgetting. How do
I do that you ask? I can only tell you it is a choice. A choice
just as real as the choice we all made to follow Christ. Paul puts
it so well:
Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but
I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has
also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are
ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus.
Another version puts it thusly:
New Living Translation
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these
things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on
to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed
me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a]
but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the
end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through
Christ Jesus, is calling us.
I believe what Paul is saying is, "Look bud, I am not perfect,
I make mistakes, I am not there yet, but I keep trying!" Paul
knows where his focus must be, so he keeps trying, persevering to
forget all the offenses against him (and those he himself has committed
against others and God). Paul has it figured out that if he were
to focus on the past, there is where he will remain. BUT if he focuses
on what is ahead, God's plan for him, he will be exactly where God
wants him to be.
Are you so busy looking at the past and forgetting what God has
in store for you? Are you stuck in the past and missing your present
or your future?
We are taught in this stand to love our spouses unconditionally.
We are to love our enemies, to love others as Jesus commanded...
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love keeps no record of wrongs, isn’t that awesome?!! For
God is love! So when we ask God to forgive us our sins, our inequities,
God forgives and God FORGETS.
Psalm 103:11-12
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Who are we that we would think we be above God and hold on to those
things we have forgiven others for? We must remove transgressions
of others from us just as God does so for us!
Also forgiveness is a part of our own healing. God wants to heal
each of us, but I believe when we hold on to what is not of him,
it prolongs our sufferings. Are you hurting? When we hold on to
what is in the past, a past we cannot change, I believe we turn
our joy in Christ into misery. We prolong our pain. In my walk with
Jesus, I have notice EVERYTIME I took my focus off of Him, the pain
would return, when I would remember the past the pain would become
overwhelming, but when I would refocus to Him, it was gone. Now
mind you, I haven’t gotten it all figured out and I cant say
I walk 24/7 right in step with our Lord. But I try, and that is
what we all have to do, is do our best which is all that God expects
from us. And isn’t that awesome??? Our Father in heaven doesn’t
expect us to be perfect He just wants us to do the best that we
can! He will do the rest!
And lastly, one of the most difficult things I have found we MUST
forget our own transgressions...we must STOP allowing satan to convince
us we have been so bad, so wrong, so sinful that God will not do
as he has promised. We MUST forget who we were and know who we ARE
in Christ! We MUST remember that every promise in His word is our
promise whether you standing for your marriage, or believing for
a loved one to be saved to our finances being increased. HIS WORD
WAS WRITTEN JUST FOR YOU!
I truly hope each of you have a blessed day and I pray that you
will become forgetful as you walk with the Lord!
May 25, 2007
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