Sermon Title: Myth #2, Forgiving Means Forgetting
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
“But God forgot about my sin, so why shouldn’t I?” This was a response that a woman had about a grievous sin that she had committed which hurt many people. She believed that God had forgiven and forgotten her sin, so she was not going to think about her past at all. It was time to move forward, and to forget her past. Unfortunately, this is the attitude many Christians have about their past sins – because God has forgiven, then we should simply forget them. However, if we choose to never remember our past, then we lose such great opportunities for blessings and to be a blessing to others. For example, when we remember what God has delivered us from, we are reminded that sin never works – it always brings destruction to our lives. This causes us to run from sin and turn to God, living in the ways in which He taught us to live. Sin is like falling off a cliff and getting hurt – when we remember all the pain that we felt when we fell off the cliff, we want to stay away from the edge and remain on safe ground.
Someone once wrote “10 things we cannot do without reaping bad consequences.” Here’s that list:
(1) Sow bad habits and reap a good character.
(2) Sow jealously and hatred and reap love and friendship.
(3) Sow wicked thoughts and reap a clean life.
(4) Sow wrong deeds and live righteously.
(5) Sow crime and get away with it.
(6) Sow dissipation and reap a healthy body.
(7) Sow crooked dealings and succeed indefinitely.
(8) Sow self-indulgence and not show it in your face.
(9) Sow disloyalty and reap loyalty from others.
(10) Sow profane words and reap clean speech.
Galatians 6:7 reminds us that we will “reap what we sow” and whenever we sin, we will reap the consequences. It’s good to remember the past consequences of sin in our life to avoid the same sins. And remembering our past sins also causes us to praise God for the forgiveness that we now have – it should produce a thankful heart. We will talk more about remembering the past as we continue the sermon series, “Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe” this Sunday. Hope to see you then!
