Lesson 8: Forgive and Forget, part 2

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

Rudyard Kipling said it well: "Nothing is ever settled until it is settled right." We can point our finger and make up excuses, we can invent arguments and do anything else we want, but the key to the closet jingles in our pocket until we settle matters right.

How long have you kept a skeleton in your closet? Oh, you desperately keep that skeleton locked in some closet of your soul. You hope no one ever probes there. You hope no one ever finds a key and says, "Ah! There it is!" I beg you to take that skeleton out of your closet. Confess your sin to God and to whomever you have offended. Get rid of it and experience God’s forgiveness.

Certain things may never be quite the same, but you can start walking with God again. With total freedom and complete joy, you will be able to look at every man and woman in the eye. Why? Because you’re clean. Forgiven. At peace with God and others. The Bible says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16). Confession is the healing balm of our soul. Our confession, however, should only be as wide as the scope of our transgression.


After entering into the experience of forgiveness, forgetfulness is vital. Joseph called his first-born son Manasseh, "For God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house" (Genesis 41:51). Joseph not only forgave his brothers, but he forgot the evil deeds they had committed against him. During the latter part of Joseph’s life, his father, Jacob, died. Joseph’s brothers again feared for their lives. They thought Joseph hadn’t really forgiven them and would take revenge on them at last. Joseph only wept when he realized their concern and said, "As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). Joseph could see the sovereign, merciful hand of God at work in his life. He had completely forgiven his brothers and forgotten their offense years before, and longed for them to experience that forgiveness themselves.

Joseph learned to forget about the offenses of others. Paul learned to forget his own sins after he had confessed them and made things right. We need to learn the same lesson of forgiveness today. All of us encounter potentially devastating experiences. How we respond to these situations determines our own well-being and the well-being of others.

Forgive and be forgiven. And then forget it. This is the secret of spiritual health. Keep short accounts with God and men. Don’t lock bitterness and guilt within the closet of your soul. Allow the Holy Spirit to shine His divine spotlight in your heart. Let Him clean out every closet in your soul. Then claim God’s wonderful promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). May you experience His cleansing and healing today!

Prayer today: Lord Jesus, help me not to be too proud to ask another person to help me in this forgiving and forgetting.