You Don't Have to "Forgive and Forget"

February 22, 2023

You’ve heard this phrase over and over: “Forgive and forget.” There’s

only one problem with it: You can’t do it. It’s impossible! 

You really can’t forget a hurt in your life. And the truth is that

God doesn’t want you to forget. Instead, he wants you to trust him and

see how he can bring good out of the hurt. That is possible.

That’s more important than forgetting. When you see God bring good

out of a bad situation, you can thank him for that good work. You can’t

thank God for things you forget.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).

It doesn’t say that all things are good—because all things are not

good. Disease is not good. Broken relationship is not good. War is not

good. Abuse is not good. There are a lot of things in life that are

evil. Not everything that happens in this world is God’s will.

But God says he will work good out of the bad things in life, if you

will trust him. You can go to him and say, “God, I give you all the

pieces of my life.”

He will take your pieces and instead give you peace in your heart.

This peace will come when you realize you can forgive, even if you don’t

understand the hurt in your life, because you know God will use that

pain for good.

You don’t have to forget the wrong thing someone did to you. You

couldn’t do it even if you tried! But God says you don’t have to forget

it. You just have to forgive and then see how he will bring good out of

the hurt.

Who have you not forgiven because you haven’t wanted to forget or let go of what they did to you?

What do you need to do today to forgive that person and move on? How does it help knowing God doesn’t expect you to forget?