Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001

Subject: When Forgetting is a Good Thing

Dear Ethan & Emily:

Forgetting things can be very frustrating, and I find this is not a “generational” thing! With the pace of life today, unless you keep meticulous checklists, it is so very easy to let things slip.

But, Paul tells us there is a time to forget…and that it is good for our spiritual growth!  In writing to the Christians in Phillipi, Paul states:  “No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”  Philippians 3: 13 – 14. 

Some Christians live defeated lives because they allow Satan to keep their sins…even confessed sins…before them in their consciousness, and they then live in a state of guilt for sins and errors committed in the past.   But God never meant for this to be so.  He reminds us that “…all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins….We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us.” 

And He emphatically states in Ps. 103: 12:  “He has removed our rebellious acts (transgressions) as far away from us as the east is from the west.”   Now, just try to measure that!

So…God wants us to “let go” and FORGET our past sins.  This is the one time “forgetting” is a good thing, and it is absolutely the key for victorious living in the present where God wants us to have an “abundant” life.  No one can live an abundant life and make progress with his or her head turned around looking backward! 

So…get your head facing straight ahead and hit your “sin memory” delete key often.  God knows all about us, past, present, and future….and He loves us.  He is soooooo wonderful!

Have a blessed time “forgetting.”

All my love,

Dad