Two Questions
by Charles R. Swindoll
Comparing the acts of forgiving and forgetting, I think forgetting is the tougher assignment.
Why? Because forgetting is something shared with no other person. It's a solo flight. All the rewards are postponed until eternity . . . but how great they will be on that day!
Forgetting requires us as Christians to think correctly, which means our full focus must be on the Lord and not on people. By God's great grace, it can happen.
Before we move on, let's pause long enough to ask ourselves two questions:
First, is there someone or something I have refused to forget, which keeps me from being happy and productive? If your answer is yes, stop right now and declare it openly to your Lord. Ask Him to take away the pain and the bitterness.
Second, am I a victim of self-pity, living out my days emotionally paralyzed by anguish and despair? If your answer is yes, stop and consider the consequences of living the rest of your life excusing your self-pity rather than turning it all over to the only One who can remove it. As the Psalmist wrote:
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42:11)
It is not "too late" . . . you are not "too old to change" . . . and your situation is not "too much to overcome."
Truth be told, it is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.
Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Purchase "Day by Day" here.