Our human brains can remember many things as we grow up, some memories last for many old years, many times we forget things which can serve as an embarrassment for us. I am sure each of us have our own story of embarrassments on what we forgot, from the many birthdays we forgot, spouse anniversary and many others.
So is forgetting a really a bad thing or good thing, what does bible say on this - Letter to Philippians Paul writes his own Philippians 3:13 'Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, '
What is Paul meaning Forgetting what is behind ? There are few that I feel we can learn to understand from his experiences
Forget your old Sin
Do not remember your old sins— 2 Peter 1:9 NIV “But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”
We do not have any right to remember our sins of the past when God himself has forgotten our sins.
See the Promises God gives us when our Sins are forgiven
Our Sins are thrown “Behind his Back” - Isaiah 38:17 NIV “… In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.”
Sunk “under the sea” Micah 7:18 NIV - “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”
Removed as the “clouds of the sky” Isa 44:22 NIV - “I have swept away your offence’s like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.””
Removed as far as the “East from West” Psalms 103:12 NIV - “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Reminding your old sins or the grudges you have against any once can give room for Satan to backslide to take away from growing in our Spiritual maturity.
You will have your old sins remind you often, then there is a high chance that you have not repented deep from your heart, the sins that you are in bondage is still lingering in your thoughts and mind with deep down. thats the reason your not able to forget your old Sins.
Satans trick to remind our Sins comes “lust of the flesh” 1 John 2:16 NIV - “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”, do not succumb to this deception
Reconciliation
We are not able to reconcile each other as we are not able to forget the insults or the words that’s spoken by other individual or a group of people. It gives root to bitterness and hatred and goes straight against the principles of what Jesus is calling us to live.
Reconciliation is not only important, it must also be done as immediately as possible as it prevents the holiness within us.if we are not holy we cannot get God’s grace - Hebrews 12:14-15 NIV - “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
If we don’t reconcile each other, it gives way to bitterness between two individual and leads to many other sins.
Anger becomes bitterness if it stays long. One preacher coined this A-N-G-E-R is just one letter short of D-A-N-G-E-R!
Bible advices us to give away the anger before the sun goes down - Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV ““In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”,
If we continue to be in anger ,we are giving devil a foothold to give root to bitterness. Giving a foot hold to bring the lust of flesh (our ego). Slowly we backslide to old way of life, loosing the Grace of God and our spiritual maturity.
The ego in us makes this reconciliation not a easy way, so how should we overcome this ?
Ask God to pour out His love into your heart. Like how Jesus demonstrated his Love for us when we were sinners - Romans 5:8 NIV “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Don’t stop with prayer — Move on in the direction of reconciliation
Ask God to give you this kind of a blessing to forgive and reconcile against the person whom you cannot accept - Luke 17:4 NIV “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.””
If the person keeps on doing this again and again and pray for the person and leave the matter in hands of God then God will fight the battle for you - Romans 12:19 NIV “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”
Sins of Omission
Bible classifies two types of Sins
“Sins of Commission” - Its a sin we commit in thought, word, or deed. The sins of commission are defined by God to man - Matthew 15:18-19 NIV - “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”
“Sins of Omission” - This is caused when we forget to do what is Good but we continue to ignore and think ourselves as perfect and holy as we did not do any murder or adultery or Sexual immoral things. James 4:17 gives the definition of Sins of Omission - James 4:17 NIV - “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
E.g., Sins of Omission - say a beggar in the road comes and begs and you stay away from doing good when you know you can help him.
Jesus illustrates for us in the parable of the “Good Samaritan” the importance of doing the good we know we ought to do (Luke 10:30-37)
How to overcome the sins of Omission
Hebrews 13:16 NIV - “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
We often have good intentions, but then forget to follow through with our actions to do good. Take time to do good to some one when ever you get a chance. If possible plan it so that we don’t forget that.
Remember the wages of sin is death, whether it is the sin of commission or omission. Romans 6:23 NIV “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Thanking heart
Many times we are blessed with many Good things from God in our lives and we forget to give thanks to God
Jesus heals 10 lepers and he healed after their pleading cry, only one came and thanked him for his miracle,
Luke 17:11-19 NIV “Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.””
Let’s not be like the 9 leapers in our lives to forget all the good things that God has done in our lives, Give thanks to him every day for all the small blessings you get from him.
Lets be guided by the spirit of God to forget what’s bad in us and be reminded by spirit of Jesus not to forget the good that needs to continue in us.
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