“For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)
When we sin, we need to look up and believe the first fact of the Gospel, which is the Good News that God forgives our sins because Jesus died for our sins. Then we need to look around, forgive those who have sinned against us and seek forgiveness of those against whom we’ve sinned. We also need to look in and forgive ourselves.
When we place our trust in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, we need to forget what God forgets and remember what God remembers. In the New Testament we are promised that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
However, God remembers that we are sinners. We forget we are sinners. (That is one reason we fall into sin again & again.) After we confess our sins, we show our faith in God’s promise is flawed when we remember our sins as guilt baggage long after God has forgiven and forgotten our sins.
A Catholic Monsignor in Paris was told about a nun who talked to Jesus every night. When the nun was summoned to meet the Monsignor, he asked her, “The next time you talk with Jesus, ask Him this question: What sins did the Monsignor commit in Paris before he became a priest?” He instructed the nun to report back after she asked Jesus his question.
Several days later when the nun requested an appointment with the Monsignor, he asked her, “Did you speak with Jesus again, my child?” She replied, “Yes, your Reverence.” He then asked, “Did you ask Jesus my question?” The nun said that she had indeed asked Jesus his question. “And what did Jesus say?” The nun replied, “Jesus told me to tell you He doesn’t remember.”
If we believe what the Bible teaches about the forgiveness of our sins, that is the answer we should expect to hear.
As we receive by faith the inner healing of salvation, we simply must discipline ourselves to remember what God remembers and forget what God forgets.
Dick Woodward, from In Step with Eternal Values
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