Love Forgives and Forgets
Life is filled with a myriad of experiences. We are thankful for the positive experiences in life. They are important and necessary for so many reasons.
Then there are the painful and difficult times when people bring hurt to your life, or to your loved ones. Sometimes what is done can be profoundly traumatic and defining. Even worse is that it can have generational implications.
Implication of hurt and transgressions against you.
As much as we idealistically believe that life should be fair, we discover this is not always the case. You may place your trust in people, believe their word and promises only to be deeply disappointed, sometimes betrayed. Your trust can be shattered, as well as your hopes and dreams. The thought of being vulnerable to trust, to believe, to bring people into the inner circle of your life is met with a wall of resistance. Sometimes fear and suspicion become the guardian of one’s heart. Resentments, slander, separation, hatred, and even murder in diverse forms become destructive expressions of the fruit of transgressions and pains inflicted upon people. It can also manifest in sickness and disease as the physical body becomes a barometer of the condition of the heart. Spiritually, physically, and relationally, the implications of unforgiveness can be far reaching.
Is there an antidote?
Is there an antidote for pains, violations, offenses, transgressions, that are part of the journey of life? Is it possible to be restored from the traumas of life?
Through the life of Jesus we see the power of forgiveness. At the cross, one of his final declarations was that of “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34.
Releasing and retaining sins against you.
In John 20:23, Jesus stated “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” What a profound and liberating revelation! You have the ability to retain or to release the sins that have been perpetrated against you.
Yet, even with such a profound revelation and pathway to freedom from our Lord Jesus, it is so extraordinary that people everywhere carry the hurts and pains in their lives from the infractions and violations of what others have done to them, knowingly or unknowingly.
Degrees of Forgiveness
Some people find forgiveness to be very hard under any terms. Others take the position that if the perpetrator sincerely asks forgiveness and demonstrates fruits of forgiveness, that they have earned the right to be forgiven. Others take the position that it is a spiritual commandment to forgive others and do this regardless as to whether someone has asked forgiveness or not.
Love Forgives and Forgets
Human love is clearly inferior to the love of the Father. From a human perspective we can choose to forgive someone, but the memory and consequential pain still can live on. Sometimes it is difficult to find total healing and restoration when the painful memory of the transgression against you still resides in your heart.
Remarkably however, the love of the Father is very different. It is not the nature of love to remember sin and transgression that has been forgiven. “I , even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Is 43:25.
One of the most powerful transforming experiences of experiencing the love of the Father into the midst of the pains and transgressions in your life, is a healing of your heart. And more than a healing of your heart, is the removal of the memory of the transgression itself. This is truly a life changing experience that transforms your heart and memory as you encounter the love of the Father.
The Power of Love
In this video, I share about how Love removes the painful memories, as it heals and restores your heart of all the damage and destruction that was not of love. This is truly a miraculous dimension of the love of the Father in your life.