Have you ever noticed how negative our minds are programmed? We will believe the negative report before we believe the positive one. For example, on any given day, you may receive 10 opinions about your outfit and out of the 10, you receive one opinion not so positive. What begins to happen? Your mind will focus in on that one negative comment and forget about the 9 positive comments. Nothing is more imprinted in our memory bank any stronger than when someone offends us. When someone has wronged us, we tend to hold on to it tightly. One of the greatest challenges in the Christian virtue of forgiveness is not asking God to forgive us because that’s easy. We can do that. The challenge is forgiving others – especially when they haven’t even asked for forgiveness and in addition forgiving ourselves for allowing what was said or done to have an affect on us in such a detrimental way. Those who can’t forgive themselves are filled with guilt and despair and those who won’t forgive others are filled with anger and bitterness. The most miserable people are the people who never let go of their animosity. They can’t enjoy life to the fullest. Bitterness builds a barrier that keeps you enslaved and keeps the rest of the world blocked out. The bitter person will cling to the hurt from the past and will never let go of it even though they know it is annihilating them. We all at some point in life have dealt with or will deal with the struggle of bitterness. You threw a pity party with only you in attendance. You become isolated and lonely. Our fleshly nature always seeks what will destroy us but God’s commandments always restore what the flesh erodes. I have always said that the hardest commandant that Jesus left for us to follow are not in the 10 but the one where he says, “love {forgive} your enemies.” Let’s be real, it is HARD to forgive sometimes when one has said or done wrong to you and it hurts to the core. As a matter of fact, we may say with our mouth “I forgive you” but yet the memory of that pain still lingers in our mind. So what is true forgiveness? Is it accepting or offering forgiveness for the offense or is it forgetting the offense? Well, let us look at what the Word of God says.

And compassion is on its way to us. You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing. You’ll sink our sins to the bottom of the ocean. (Micah7:19)

We sometimes create an everlasting memorial marker of hurts in our lives, however, as we see in the above text, God takes our sins and drowns them. In other words he takes the life out of the sin. It is no longer able to breathe; and because it has no more life, it will never raise its ugly head again in our memory. Here is where the challenge is for both you and I. OUR MEMORY! Beloved, forgiveness is connected to forgetting, God desires for us to forget the pain, but remember the lesson. If you continue to have memory of the hurt, bitterness, and pain, you are a slave to that thought and to that moment. But God says, BE FREE. Jesus came “to set at liberty those who are oppressed!” Your past and what others have said or done to you can be very oppressive ; but lay hold to the liberation of Jesus Christ. Liberate your mind! FORGIVE, FORGET, and be FREE! How? Well, as I conclude this blog, I want to share with you, what happened to David in the 23rd Psalm.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil…”
Look at what is going on with David in this verse. The Lord has invited David into his dining room. God has invited David to sit at the table. God has invited you to sit at his table, because at God’s table there is nourishment. At God’s table there is opportunity for growth. At God’s table there is a sense of security. At Gods’ table is life in abundance. At God’s table is a place for you to belong, but look, there are some invited dinner guests- the enemies of David. Those whom have done David wrong, those whom have said hurtful things to David, those whom have caused David pain, those whom have irritated the life of David; God is saying come and eat before them. In reality when you begin thinking about the wrong that people have done to you, it will make you lose your appetite for the goodness that God has set before you. You cannot focus on the good stuff that is right before you because you are focusing on negative things that are around you. Yet, here is the blessing, God ANOINTS your head. In other words, God takes the memory and thoughts of bitterness, anger, depression, doubt, fear, guilt, low self-esteem and jealousy and He cleans it all up! You have no memory of it. He covers it with his joy, love, peace, grace, goodness, acceptance, and security; therefore you will be able to enjoy the goodness that God has set before you. To forgive is to forget, and to forget is to be FREE.

bINpowered,

D.K. Kearney

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