Forgiveness and Forgetting

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. The devotional for today titled Forgiveness and Forgetting was written by Kenneth Peterson. Jill Price was born with the condition of hyperthymesia, the ability to remember in extraordinary detail everything that ever happened to her. She can replay in her mind the exact occurrence of any event she's experienced in her lifetime. The TV show Unforgettable was premised on a female police officer with hyperthymesia, to her a great advantage in trivia games and in solving crimes.

For Jill Price, however, the condition isn't so much fun. She can't forget the moments of life when she was criticized, experienced loss, or did something she deeply regretted. She replays those scenes in her head over and over again. Our God is omniscient, perhaps a kind of divine hyperthymesia. The Bible tells us that his understanding has no limit, and yet we discover in Isaiah chapter 43 a most reassuring thing. It says, I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions and remembers your sins no more. The book of Hebrews reinforces this, saying in chapter 10, We have been made holy through Jesus Christ, and our sins and lawless acts God will remember no more. As we confess our sins to God, we can stop playing them over and over in our minds. We need to let them go, just as he does. Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. In his great love, God chooses to not remember our sins against us. Let's remember that. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is some hope from Isaiah chapter 43 verses 18 through 25.

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself, that they may proclaim my praise. Yet you have not called on me, Jacob. You have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings, nor wearied you with demands for incense.

You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. Let's pray. Dear God, as we look back on life, most of us have deep regrets over hurtful things we've said or sinful thoughts that we've had and failures to follow your direction. Would you help us to learn from these experiences and to live in the freedom of Christ with gratitude, knowing that we are completely forgiven because of your life, death, and resurrection? Thank you, Jesus. It's in your name that we pray. Amen.