Is forgetting forgiving?

Question

We've all heard the old phrase "forgive and forget", and you've probably also heard the question, Is it possible to forgive without forgetting. But my question is a little different. If you do something you deem as "bad" and in need of forgiveness, and you ask for forgiveness then forget about it, does that mean you are forgiven? Christ said I will forgive who I will forgive, but of you is required to forgive all men. He also said (I paraphrase) that once He has forgiven someone, He remembers it no more. So from these two scriptures I gather that we should forgive even ourselves. If we try to forgive ourselves, then give that desire (of forgiveness) over to God (so that we're not burdened with it any more), then forget about it and are no longer burdened by the guilt associated with it, are we forgiven (if not by God, then at least by ourselves)?

Answer 1

This is a good question. To forgive literally means "To divorce, release, separate, set at liberty, set free, etc." The Bible doesn't actually say that God forgets our sins, but that He casts them into the sea "and knows them no more," and that He removes them from us "as far as the east is from the west." In other words, once we're forgiven, it's a done deal; God chooses not to remember or bring them to mind concerning us as long as we meet the conditions for forgiveness.

Personally, I think forgetting is a good thing once we forgive, repent and/or confess our wrong doing; we can tell when we truly have forgiven and/or repented if we can think of an event or an action without pain. Since people can certainly blame themselves, we certainly have a need to forgive ourselves as well. Satan can use an attack known as "false guilt," in which a person retains the guilt for something that has long been forgiven or is now truly their fault. So it is important to be able to receive the forgiveness offered by Jesus through his blood once we have done met the conditions: "If we confess our faults, He (Jesus) is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)

Answer 2

Yes, I agree, we must even forgive ourselves. I think sometimes when we have sinned and repented, we still feel that burden...that is when we need to ask Heavenly Father to help us forgive ourselves. One thing I had to do, because I kept feeling like I wasn't forgiven, was pray about it, not the sin but the answer to whether I had been forgiven. It came to my mind that since God had forgiven me I COULD forgive myself.
I agree also that true forgiveness is forgetting and never bringing it up again - what's that called - past transgression? If someone sinned against you and told you they forgave you, you wouldn't want them constantly saying "oh but you remember that one time..."
Anywho, forgiveness is a god-like attribute and it is hard sometimes but necessary and if we do it to BE forgiving and not just because we are supposed to, then it will mean much more.
Good question.

Answer 3

I would say we are forgiven. If we ask God for forgiveness of something no matter what it is He promises to forgive and forget our sins. Also, if we give our burden of sin to the Lord and let Him deal with it and then we some how forget about it we are also forgiving ourselves. If we don't have the burden anymore then we have forgiven ourselves and decided not to hold envy or guilt in our hearts. The whole meaning of forgiving someone is instead of holding envy or guilt in your heart you just let go of that hurt, envy or guilt and just forgive them. If your heart still holds hurt or bitter feelings about something someone did to you and you say you forgive them for it you really didn't forgive them, but if you let those feelings go and you feel peace then you have indeed forgiven them. If you also let your burden go and just forget about what you may have done and you ask forgiveness from God and give the burden to God then you are also forgiven by God and yourself. I hope this answers your question well enough. :) God bless!

Answer 4

well...
if you ask for forgiveness (honestly and meaning it) from God you will be forgiven. Forgetting about something doesn't mean that you are forgiven or that you forgave...
that's the bad bad part in forgiving you actualy have to forgive first and the forgetting part will come later.
ex. you'll have to see the person daily you know you forgave them but still remember what they did without resentment though, and it'll still hurt...eventually you will forget ....

Answer 5

An excellent question. Your heart hears God and you know, you feel His forgiveness. But a heart that doesn’t forgive is dead and doesn’t feel God’s love. When you surrender your heart to His will, then guilt is unknown by your inner man, because the old man was put off by Christ, and God has forgiven you.

Answer 6

Forgetting is not forgiving.

This is a hard one for everyone. You may forgive and not forget, you may forgive and forget and you may not forgive but forget. I believe what you are asking is what should we do.

It is stated in the bible that god "forgives and forgets" you just have to ask him to. As for yourself it is up to you to forget. I think to truly forgive yourself you must not forget the lesson learned in your mistake but you should forget the guilt and shame in time.

You cannot expect your bad feelings to disappear by telling yourself your forgiven. However, you can be accountable for your mistake and work towards a better you. Eventually you will put it behind you. Forgiving yourself is a lot harder than forgiving someone else.

I believe it is health to forgive and forget (yourself or others)because holding onto negative emotions will undermine the goodness in us.

Answer 7

I don't think that forgetting is a good idea. If you forget about it, it's liable to come up years later and you'll feel horrible about it. Deeds are like cheesecake: it gets worse over time. You should also forgive yourself before you go asking God about it. You are not always going to get His input, I mean. I don't think if you forget you are forgiven.

Answer 8

God forgives and forgets. We can't. We're not God.

The hardest thing is to forgive ourselves. We beat ourselves up. You have to look at yourself through God's eyes.

But forgetting? I think we learn from our mistakes, so we should never forget it, but look back on it as a learning experience, knowing that we are forgiven by God and that we forgive ourselves. But, never forget.

I believe the term "forgetting" means not to keep bringing it up over and over again.

We are to forgive others, but we are not to condone what they did. We should remember what happened so that we are not opening ourselves to be hurt again. Learn from it. But, when you forgive that person, you don't bring it up again. You don't hit him over the head with it over and over again. That's "forgetting."

Answer 9

You do not need to forgive yourself. That would be sort of silly. What you need to do is ask the person you have transgressed against for forgiveness. When you have their forgiveness that is all that is necessary. If the person doesn't want to forgive you, then I would just consider the incident over and not worry about it. You do not need to ask forgiveness from God. A person can not transgress against God. Amen. xx

Answer 10

Jesus the Rabbi also told people not to ask him to forgive them if they had not made things right with those they had wronged. If you don't make restitution first, don't expect to be forgiven, even from a Christian perspective.

Of course, we Jews believed it for thousands of years before that was ever said by Jesus. We still do.