Help me to forget what you can't remember

By Dr. Andy and Renie Bowman
Coffeetimecolumn.com
andybowman839@gmail.com

That would definitely be wonderful, wouldn’t it? To have total amnesia regarding the awful things you have said or done in your past. To not remember the hurt you have caused, and the shame you have brought on yourself.

If everyone had that rare ability to be totally honest about their life, you would find there is one thing that we all have in common. We all have regrets about our past. And that is because we all have something else in common – we are human and awfully self-centered and occasionally stupid. 

I have yet to find the person who looked me in the eye and said, “No, I’ve never said or done even one little thing that I regret. There has never been a night when I have lost five minutes of sleep, thinking and wishing I hadn’t done something at some point.”

But if you are that one-in-a-jillion who actually can say that, then please, contact me on our website, I would absolutely love to talk with you. You would be the one person to prove the Bible to be wrong when it says, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 

You will find that verse in Romans 3:12, should you be interested.

So. Who am I talking about when I say "‘Help me to forget what you can’t remember?” And why should that phrase that became a song title even be important to you? Simple stuff. Here is why. 

There truly is a living God, with absolute authority and power over your life and mine. And He hates sin – the things that you and I do that brings on pain and shame. 

Your Creator has a memory that never fails. He never forgets what you and I have done. With one exception. He promises to forgive and forget the sin of the one who confesses being a sinner, and begs Him to help them be better. “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

You can find that promise in Hebrews 8:12, should you be interested.

Something else you need to know. God didn’t have to forgive; He chooses to forgive. But He put this strict requirement on His forgiveness – you have to ask.

But even if you took God at His word, that He would forgive you and promise to not remember your sins ever again, how would that help you to quit reliving those bad things in your life? To actually relax and finally feel good about yourself?

Answer: You have to realize that certain part of your life is totally forgiven and forgotten – so why drag up non-existent garbage to torture yourself? And you probably will have to realize it over and over again, until you finally learn that God meant what He said.

That His promise is true and real for you.