Forgiving and Forgetting

I am sure that at some point in your life you have heard the phrase, "you need to forgive and forget." When we were in conflicts as little kids we were often told to just "say you are sorry and hug it out" with the other person. Once we said we were sorry and we hugged it out, the conflict supposedly disappeared; however, this is not entirely correct. This idea of "forgiving and forgetting" has been used so frequently in our world that we think it is necessary to do so. As humans we find forgiving and forgetting to be hard and truthfully it really is. It is hard for us to build up enough courage to forgive someone for something they did to us, but it is even HARDER to forget about it. The truth is we will probably never forget, and if we do forget it will take some time. While forgiving others is difficult, it is a critical part of how we live emotionally. It is not healthy for us to hold our anger and grudges inside ourselves. If we keep all these bitter feelings inside they will eventually eat us up and cause us to go crazy! However, the truth is that we tend to believe that people do not deserve our forgiveness. Maybe people do not deserve our forgiveness, but forgiving only allows for a healthier and better life. Once we forgive we feel all the bitter feelings to slowly go away. These feelings go away because we know we did the right thing, we forgave. Forgiveness is what God instructs us to do. God tells us that he will forgive us for all our mistakes and sins, not because we deserve it, but because he loves us. God is willing to give us another chance. We should be more willing to give others another chance because it is what God does for us. Forgiving allows for us to feel good and  strengthen our relationships. Forgiving restores relationships by committing people to avoid conflicts in the future. It takes a great deal of practice and hard work to accomplish the task of forgiveness. It is important to remember that forgiving is an equal partnership. We forgive to give someone another chance, and to allow ourselves to feel good and not bitter towards them. Forgetting, on the other hand, is almost impossible, and believe it or not, that is a good thing! We should not forget the conflicts we've had because we can take those conflicts and turn them into life lessons. Then we can take these lessons and learn from them allowing for us to become better forgiving people in this world, which is what God asks that we do. As Matthew West says, "Grace wins every time."

Have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Gracie