Forgive and Forget?
By Rick Warren
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV)
You’ve heard this phrase over and over: “Forgive and forget.” There’s only one problem with it: You can’t do it. It’s impossible!
You really can’t forget a hurt in your life. In fact, you can’t even try to forget it. Because when you try to forget, you actually focus on the very thing you want to forget.
And the truth is that God doesn’t want you to forget. Instead, he wants you to trust him and see how he can bring good out of the hurt. That’s more important than forgetting. When you see God bring good out of a bad situation, you can thank him for that good work. You can’t thank God for things you forget.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).
It doesn’t say that all things are good—because all things are not good. Disease is not good. Broken relationship is not good. War is not good. Abuse is not good.
There are a lot of things in life that are evil. Not everything that happens in this world is God’s will.
But God says he will work good out of the bad things in life if you will trust him. You can go to him and say, “God, I give you all the pieces of my life.”
He will take your pieces and instead give you peace in your heart. This peace will come when you realize you can forgive, even if you don’t understand the hurt in your life, because you know God will use that pain for good.
You don’t have to forget the wrong thing someone did to you. You couldn’t do it even if you tried! But God says you don’t have to forget it. You just have to forgive and then see how he will bring good out of the hurt.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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