Forgive and forget… We have all heard that since we were kids. “The Bible says…” Does it? If it does, I can not find it. Forgive, sure, in a number of places. (Matt 6:14 ~15, Mark 11:26) There are several other places. Even The Lord’s Prayer mentions to forgive and asks for forgiveness. But, were we told to forget it?

I freely admit that I am not a great Bible scholar, but I do read God’s word. I have failed to find where I was told to FORGET a transgression. Please, if you know such a scripture, please let me know.

Now I will tell a story, to make a point. Only this story is a true one. I was a tall skinny, kid and strong as a bull. I could whip any animal on the farm (except Mom). One day, when Julie mule was a little colt, her mother was used to work the fields. She was brought into the pasture and I walked up to her to take her to the barn. Julie mule was nursing. Well, Julie threw her back end up and put her little hoof right in my eye. Broke my glasses, which I had paid a hard earned $18 strawberry picking money for. It didn’t do my eye much good, either.

Now, I knew Julie was doing what any mule would do, so I could forgive her. Now, don’t you think I would be a little stupid if I just forgot that incident? You better believe I did not. I still remember it after over 60 years. I was very careful after that to make sure Julie could not use my body as a target for her wild hooves! (I also kicked her little butt!)

So it is with mankind. When we are wronged by any of God’s children, we are told to forgive, time and time again, as often as there are transgressions to forgive. But, like Julie, should we forget? No, for that would be inviting another transgression. We should learn from our experiences and try to ward off a wrong without making it necessary to forgive.

A guy came in, drunk, and beat the glory out of his wife. The next door neighbor called the police. The police took the guy to jail and booked him for assault. The next day the wife went down with black eyes and a big bruise on her face, to try to bail him out, saying she believed the Bible when it said she was to forgive. The cop told her, “Yes, I believe the Bible also, and I believe you love him, but you are to learn from all your experiences. Now it is time for HIM to learn. If he don’t, then this same thing will happen again and again, only each time it will get a little worse until somebody will be badly hurt or killed, and the entire family will be destroyed.”

Needless to say, it was not the first time he had slapped her around, so she let the guy learn a lesson, three months of it, along with forced counseling. So far, he has not beat on her. Maybe, just perhaps, he has learned, but the main lesson he learned was that she was not going to put up with that sort of thing anymore.

My mom spanked me many times, out of LOVE! No doubt she forgave me the things I did, for had she not, she would have thrown me out of the house. She, like God, loved me enough to teach me. (Of course, I was still a mean little kid!) And God does pound us sometimes. I look back at my life and realize the only times I suffered a failure was when I did things MY way and not His. I might add, like all other humans, I failed many times and every time, He forgave me. Did He forget? I sure doubt it, for He also told us that we would face judgment for everything we have done…

I now ask you, please forgive me for filling your ear with this , but don’t forget it…