Memory Loss
By Grant Gaines
Do you ever feel like you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth? You say one thing only to have the very next statement that flows out of your mouth contradict what you just said. Well, today I am going to do that very thing.
In a previous blog we looked at the importance of remembering your past and all God has saved you from in order that we do not repeat it. This week, however, I want to explore the biblical truth of forgetting your past and how those two seemingly contradictory ideas work hand in hand. But before we examine this truth, let me tell a story to help set the scene.
In 1911 a 47 year old woman who had no short term memory was admitted into the care of Swiss psychologist Edouard Claparede. Because she was unable to create any new memories, at the beginning of every appointment with this woman Claparede would shake the woman’s hand and introduce himself to her.
One day Claparede decided to perform an experiment with this woman to test her subconscious memory. So when the patient reached out her hand, Claparede hid a pin in the palm of his hand and stuck the woman as they were shaking hands. The woman withdrew her hand immediately because of the unforeseen pain.
In a matter of seconds, however, the woman forgot completely about the pin pricking her hand. But rather than extending her hand to the doctor during their next visit and every other visit for the rest of her life, the woman said she felt like she couldn’t trust Claparede though she didn’t remember him doing anything that would betray her trust in the past.
The moral of the story? The residue of past pain hinders us in the present and the future whether we know it or not. Our sins have the power to become like chains on our feet that can cripple our walk with Christ and withhold us from the fullness of life and joy the Jesus desires us to have (John 10:10). And that’s exactly how Satan wants it to be. He wants your mistakes of the past to hinder your ministry in the future. He wants yesterday’s sin to become today’s shame.
The apostle Paul had some experience with this exact struggle and would often write about it in his many letters we now have that make up much of our New Testament. You’re probably familiar with Paul’s pre-Christ way of life-“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13, NIV). One could only imagine how quickly Satan would try to bring up Paul’s murderous past to Paul’s mind as he was making big time plays for the Gospel.
So how did Paul deal with this? He gives us his answer in Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)-“… I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
It was as if Paul used that memory erasing “neuralyzer” from the movie Men in Black to help him forget about his sinful past so that he could run full speed ahead towards what God had in store for him in the future. Paul followed God’s example in this by looking at what is ahead rather than focusing on what is behind.
You see, in Isaiah 43:25 (NIV) God declares to us all, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Notice that it doesn’t say that God “forgets” our sins but rather that He “remembers them no more.” There’s a big difference in forgetting something and choosing not to remember something. God isn’t like us that He should forget something like we forget where we put our car keys. Instead, He chooses not to remember our sins for His sake the moment we put our trust in Christ.
We would be wise to do the same. We would be wise to follow in the footsteps of Paul by leaving our shameful past in the rearview mirror and sprint ahead with an attitude of gratefulness over all the Lord has saved us from as we daily preach the Gospel to others and ourselves.
God takes no pleasure in you bearing the shame that Christ already bore for you on the Cross (Isaiah 53:5). You are doing the Lord no favors by walking around with your head hung low because you sinned last night. Should you be sorrowful for your actions? Absolutely! But as 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) says it, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” In other words, your sorrow over your sin should not keep you down but should rather lead you to repenting and going on to live your life exclusively for God’s kingdom.
You are a new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), how about we start living like it!
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©Grant Gaines 2013
