“God,
For Sinners” Devotional Series by Trista Robinson
“Forgive
and FORGET” Thus Sayeth the Lord
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he
repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven
times comes back to you and says, "I repent," FORGIVE HIM." Luke
17:3-4
Remember, for those of us who claim to be of
Christ - we must forgive as God does....none of this "I'll forgive you but
I ain't forgetting" mess. We can't be lukewarm and halfhearted in our
forgiveness, regardless what has been done, regardless how many times they’ve
done it, no matter how bad it was – we must forgive just as God forgives us –
this is the condition. The problem today is many of us claim to be “of God” but
we live “of the flesh”. Check it, many of you are reading this right now and in
your head you’re combating this – you’re saying things like, “she don’t know
what I’ve been through” or “Just because I don’t forget don’t mean I don’t
forgive”…. Yea I know it, cause I’ve been there. I’ve had some terrible things
done to me throughout my life and I know what it is to feel like you “deserve”
to feel how you feel. Forgiveness does not deny that you have been hurt.
Forgiveness does not deny that you were wronged. Forgiveness does not make the
other person “right”, “stronger”, or “better”.
Forgiveness shows your love for God, your honor
to God, and your strength and faith in God. Forgiveness really does free you –
but only if you forgive and you cast out that sin, just as God does. Imagine if
you came to God in prayer, seeking forgiveness, and in the back of His mind –
He thought, “Here she come again with that same old apology, I’m so tired of
her apologies, I don’t believe her, she keeps doing the same thing, I’m tired
of being run over, I’ll forgive but I WILL NOT forget…” What if God actually
thought this way – and what if His actions towards us changed based on this?
Imagine! Imagine if just for a moment, God’s forgiveness was just like the
forgiveness you give to other people….
I know some of us are still smacking our lips and
folding our arms. Trust me I’ve been guilty of this many times in my own life,
someone makes me mad, I say I forgive but I’m going over the event in my mind,
fuming every time I think of it… Yes, I know we think well I’m not still MAD at
them, I just don’t TRUST them enough to get that close again so they can hurt
me. Trust me, I get it. I do the same thing too but one day God asked me, Is
that REAL forgiveness? Is that showing others the same type of mercy and grace
I showed you? How would you feel if I did do that to you?
In all my time serving God, God has never thrown
up a past sin in my face, nor has He treated me any differently even though I
continue to sin and fail Him. He doesn’t tell me, Oh you just asked for
forgiveness for that yesterday so I’m over it. He doesn’t smile and say “you’re
forgiven” and then go gossip about me to the angels. Could you imagine? Yes, I
know seems ludicrous that God would do something like that to His precious
children. So then, why do we as His representatives on earth – do it those we
are supposed to love as Christ loved the church? Selah.
“"I--yes, I alone--will blot out your
sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12
