Article May 22, 1995 Issue

We can forgive and forget

Written for the Sentinel

My husband and I learned long ago that it is in prayer to God that every need is met. When my husband began to suffer with a backache, it was natural to turn to God for help. As we were praying, Paul's words to the Christians in Philippi came to mind: "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13–14). We knew that God, ever-present Mind, is constantly furnishing the right idea, exposing whatever is wrong, and enabling us to correct it.

We saw there had to be a profound lesson in this verse, an answer to our prayers. We realized that if anyone could have been paralyzed by the past, with no hope for the future, surely it was Paul. He had been a persecutor of the Christians and a staunch enemy of the gospel. But once converted to Christianity, Paul completely changed direction in his life. When through the Christ, Truth, he had glimpsed a powerful love that could forgive even while it destroyed the wrong, he gained new views of God and man. This led to a transformation of thought and behavior. He let go of negative character traits and past sins. The past could have rendered him useless, but forgetting the past, he looked ahead to the future.

As his thought was changed, Paul learned that God does indeed "blot out" transgressions (see Ps. 51:1), and he was able to forgive himself, forget the past, and press on toward the mark of the true Christian, expressing gentle, Godlike qualities, which so distinguished the life of Christ Jesus.

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