Forgiving And Forgetting

Everything starts in the home ❤️

Sunday morning messages in church have recently revolved around the definition of family and the importance of building and keeping a solid foundation of faith within the home; that first sentence carries so much significance because it holds SO much truth---the home is at the heart of everything: it serves as a place of rest for the weary soul, a source of refuge throughout personal seasons of trouble, and an escape that provides freedom from the division and deception that holds an unrelenting presence in our world today. 

The phrase "forgiving and forgetting" came upon my heart recently through listening to these messages---brokenness effects countless families today as a result of bitterness and unforgiveness that resides within the heart.

It's never healthy to hold grudges against someone you love. We are living in such unprecedented and uncertain days; the most perfect time for all of us to forgive and to forget. 

The act of forgiveness can sometimes seem impossible--heartbreak and betrayal certainly hurts and the ache lasts for quite a while. 

Extending true forgiveness to someone comes from realizing the severity of our own sins---humans tend to judge the wrongs committed towards them with a self-determined point value system. 

(I have been super guilty of this as well!)

We think "They did such and such, but I would never do that!"

My friend, all sin is equal in the eyes of God; no matter the severity. Choosing not to forgive even the tiniest of offenses will only keep you in the spirit of bitterness. 

Forgiveness is meant for YOU. It's purpose is to provide peace. Forgetting doesn't excuse the wrong, it simply means you shouldn't think about it anymore. Give it to the Lord and let it go.

May you remember all that Christ has forgiven and forgotten in your own lifetime; may you never allow the past to stop you from pressing on for Christ.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32)

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phillipians 3:13-14)