Forgive. Forget. Forever?

by Jonathan Krause

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

‘Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ (Matthew 18:33).

Read Matthew 18:21–35

So, this forgiveness thing?

Thinking about verses like today’s reading, I straight away see how much work I need to do to forgive others. Over and over.

And, even harder, to forget and move forward.

Well-meaning friends tell us that forgiving helps free us from the burden of whatever was done against us. Indeed, John Hopkins Medicine states:

Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels and sleep; and reducing pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression and stress.

I expect all that’s right. But you know what I find even harder than forgiving, and even forgetting? Accepting forgiveness.

Yes, I know that through the sacrifice of Jesus, my sins are forgiven and washed away (Isaiah 1:18) … but surely they can’t be forgotten?

For me, I can’t shake the fear that our Father in Heaven is keeping track of all the times I have let him down, turned away, done wrong. Yes, you and I may be forgiven, but isn’t there always the threat that our ‘forgiven’ sin is still lurking there – ready to be dragged out again and used against us the next time we fail and fall?

That’s where Hebrews 10:17 clubs me over the head and demands I re-read today’s Bible verses in this certainty: ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’

That’s forever. That’s me set free.

God is not holding the stain of my sin against me. Instead, I’m set free to give that same gift of forgiveness and grace to those who wrong me.

Whether it’s seven times, or seventy-seven times, or seventy times seven times.

What a blessing to have so many chances to model the amazing blessing of God’s love, expressed in forgiveness, to those around me.

Forgive. Forget. Forever.

Lord, thank you for forgiving me, even when I fall over and over again. Thank you for your amazing grace that ‘forgets’ my failings. Forever. Now, help me do the same for those who may fail me, so they can see the light of your love in my life. Amen.

• Click here to read previous devotions.
• We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
• Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.