"forgive And Forget" Series

A. Ephesians 4:32- “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ

God forgave you.”

ILLUSTRATION:

Charles Swindoll tells the story of a Jewish rabbi named Saul Rosenberg, who one day did something really STUPID that terribly UPSET his wife, Ethel. He APOLOGIZED for it, and his

wife FORGAVE him.

However, from time to time, Ethel would MENTION what he had done. “Honey,” Saul finally asked one day, “why do you keep bringing that up? I thought your policy was to ‘forgive and

forget.’”

“It is,” Ethel said. “I just don't want you to ever FORGET that I FORGAVE and FORGOT.”

1. The popular saying we’re studying today that’s not found in the Bible is: “FORGIVE and FORGET.”

a. We have all heard this PHRASE, and maybe have even SAID IT.

b. In years past, I have PREACHED sermons on this saying that “God wants us to FORGIVE and

FORGET”—and I was WRONG. THAT IS NOT WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS!

ILLUSTRATION:

Most often this phrase is used in an attempt to COMFORT someone who has been HURT by

another and can’t get over it, so we say, “Don’t let this get you down. Just forgive and forget.”

Also, it has been used as a REBUKE from the person who HURT you, “Why can’t you just move on? Remember, the Bible says that you are to FORGIVE and FORGET!”

2. But can we really FORGET?

COMMENT:

If someone were to ask you to make a list of the people that HURT you, you can probably write

out a LONG LIST of those who have caused you PAIN.

These may be FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, COWORKERS, even FELLOW-CHRISTIANS. So many RELATIONSHIPS have been SHATTERED because of cruel WORDS and ACTIONS that have left those who have been HURT feeling BETRAYED. You seldom FORGET

the HURT or the PAIN someone has caused you.

3. And God doesn’t DEMAND that we do so.

COMMENT:

God is REALISTIC about our FORGIVING others. He DEMANDS that we FORGIVE, but He also knows that there are some HURTS that have produced DEEP SCARS that will always be there.

B. Paul said in Ephesians 4:32 that we are to “FORGIVE as God has FORGIVEN us.”

1. God’s FORGIVENESS of our SINS is the BASIS of our FORGIVING others who SIN against us.

a. I want you to take a MOMENT to THINK about the SINS you have COMMITTED in your

LIFETIME. (I know this may be PAINFUL, but it’s good to be reminded from time-to-time

of how FORGIVING God has been to us over the years.)

b. Even the Apostle Paul would refer to his PAST LIFE as a “persecutor of Christians”, and talk about the MERCY that God bestowed upon him, “the worst of sinners”- 1 Timothy 1:12-15.

COMMENT:

GO BACK IN YOUR MEMORY AS FAR AS YOU CAN: Think about the times when you DISOBEYED your PARENTS, when you MISTREATED your little brother or sister, when you LIED to your SCHOOL TEACHER. Think about the HURTFUL WORDS that you have SAID, the

GOSSIP you have SPREAD, the FRIENDS you have BETRAYED.

Remember your first EXPERIENCE with PORNOGRAPHY, the first time you SUCCUMB to the TEMPTATION of SEX before MARRIAGE, the time when you BROKE your MARRIAGE

VOW and committed ADULTERY with your co-worker?

Will you ever be able to FORGET the time when out of uncontrolled ANGER you SLAPPED your little girl and bloodied her NOSE, or when you DRANK too much and HIT your MOTHER or

your WIFE, or the time when you were out of a JOB and you CURSED God?

I haven’t even SCRATCHED the SURFACE listing the SINS that we have COMMITTED over the years, but if we have turned our lives over to Jesus, God has FORGIVEN us of us if ALL of our SINS. Therefore, we are to FORGIVE those who SIN against us.

2. The ISSUE is not whether we should FORGIVE (that is a COMMAND), but it’s FORGETTING!

COMMENT:

There are some SINS committed against ME that I will NEVER FORGET no matter how hard I try—and I have TRIED. Then there are some SINS that I have COMMITTED against others that I

WISH I could FORGET, but can’t. So, what does the BIBLE say about “FORGIVE AND FORGET”?

MESSAGE:

I. GOD DOES NOT FORGIVE AND FORGET

A. I know that someone of you have already turned to a PASSAGE that you believe TEACHES that

“God forgives and forgets”. We’ll get to that VERSE in a moment.

1. First, let me ASK you some QUESTIONS that if you AWARE of—please RAISE your HANDS.

a. How many of you know about the sin of adultery and murder that King David committed?

b. How many of you know about how Peter had denied knowing the Lord three times on the