Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12

When I was a kid, there was a popular saying that went something like this: “you haven’t forgiven until you’ve forgotten.” That’s nice bumper sticker Christianity but I don’t think it’s Biblical.

God can certainly cast our sins away “as far as the east is from the west,” but we still struggle with what to do with what we know and have experienced. Then years later something happens to trigger the memory again and we need to ask forgiveness…yet again. It’s probably the way it should be because it keeps us dependent on God. I don’t say that lightly because I know that evil things happen to good people (both Christian and non-Christian) every day, and too often the response is to throw out a platitude such as “forgive and move on.” That’s just wrong because it short circuits the emotional process and substitutes it with a seemingly quick fix. Yes, eventually, the person will have to forgive and get it behind them, but the healing process needs to take place.

Does something in your past keep creeping up on you? Bring it to the Lord. Again and again and again, even if you turned it over the Lord years ago. Love does cover over all wrongs; it just may take some time to do it.