Forgive and Forget
By Laurie Beaulieu | January 8, 2016
Zephaniah 3:17Amplified Bible (AMP) 17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, A Warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins],
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
One of the hardest things to do is tame the tongue. When someone messes with our tranquility or plans we have a hard time not telling someone else what kind of trial we’ve been going thru, even feeling justified to do so at times. But that is not the way that God deals with us. He doesn’t go running to our neighbors, family and friends telling them what we’ve done wrong.
This verse in Zephaniah says that His love is quiet. I like the amplified version here because it explains what that means. “Making no mention of your past sin”. Well you know what? That means every sin we’ve ever committed or will commit, because as soon as we stumble - it becomes a past sin.
God doesn’t call someone and say “Let’s go get a cup of coffee and visit” , then spill the beans on every sin we’ve ever committed. His kind of love “Makes no mention” of it, ever.
When we love someone in our own strength, we will always fall short of God’s kind of love. We will keep track of their sins and use it as ammo down the line. Oh yes, we may say we forgive them today, but let it happen again and “Bam” you’re shooting them down with all the things they’ve done to you, because you might be able to “Forgive” them once or twice but you’re not forgetting it and if it happens again…….
God loves us in this way:
Romans 5:7-9New King James Version (NKJV)
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Psalm 103:10-13Amplified Bible (AMP) 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],
Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
And in Hebrews 8 it says He remembers our sins no more.We love when God extends His love and grace towards us but often we expect those that interact with us to live under the law. (Behave or face the penalty) We see the results of this in broken homes and friendships.
The whole bible is full of instructions for every circumstance in life, but one of the most important instruction Jesus gave us is to “Love one another” as He loves us. As we do, we will see people with God’s eyes, we will see the gifts in them instead of their faults and rejoice over them shouting in joy and encouragement. Forgiveness will come quickly and permanently, we will throw their sins as far away as the east is from the west and remember them no more. Instead of crushing them for their weaknesses and failures, we will lift them up and save them. We will pray for them and be a warrior for them, helping them win, and instead of tossing them out of our lives for their uselessness and sins, we will want to be in their midst to show them our love, … God’s love and goodness.
Romans 2:4Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?
Let’s focus on showing others the “Wealth of His kindness, tolerance and patience” Let’s show them God’s love working through us -
Be blessed so that you can be a blessing
