Forgiving and Forgetting

I would say that forgiveness is paramount in the Christian life. Weather you are forgiving yourself, or forgiving someone else for hurting you. Without forgiveness a person would live a life of guilt, anger, resentment, and confusion. Having that to live with every day would not be spiritually, physically, or emotionally healthy. I know from experience what a relief it is to forgive someone, or yourself for something that happened. God is in the business of forgiveness, and he forgives us every time we ask. I also know what a relief it is to have God forgive you for daily sins, because, believe it or not, we all sin, and sometimes we sin daily. Forgiveness is a cleansing of the heart, that leaves only good behind it. So no matter how hard it is to forgive someone, and even if you have to ask God to help you do it, always strive to forgive yourself and others, as God has forgiven you.

I think that it would not always be a wise thing to forget the things that hurt you, as if they never took place, nor is it possible to forget. I wouldn't want to be doing the same actions over and over again, especially if they hurt me or someone else. I definitely wouldn't want to do them over and over if they were sinful actions. Remembering helps a person to change the way they are doing things, and makes them a better person. Although I don't purposely try to remember things that happened to me, the memories are still there. But, if the forgiveness has taken place then the memories don't hurt any more, they just serve to help you not get into the same situations over and over again.

So forgiveness is a cleansing of the heart, but forgetting is saying that it never happened, which to my knowledge, the only one who can do that would be God.