Yikes, right after I published yesterday’s blog where I wrote that I hadn’t missed church because of sickness for twelve years, up pops two blogs from 2021 and 2022 that both said I missed church because I was sick, one because of a cold and the latest because of COVID. Oh well, I guess I can blame that misinformation on my bad memory.

It is interesting to note what people tend to remember from their past. I rarely remember the bad stuff that happened to me, but I remember like it was yesterday: most of the adventures, exciting events, and fun stuff. I think that is why I regularly pray, thanking the Lord for my amazingly blessed life because it seems like my life has been just a series of blessings, accomplishments, and adventures with people I love.

Several years ago, I was counseling a couple who were having marriage problems, and the husband, in a matter of ten minutes, rattled off a stream of failures that his wife had committed over the previous five years of their marriage. He recounted each one of them with great detail and emotion. I thought, wow, she doesn’t have a chance. I suggested to the husband that he forgive his wife, and he responded by saying, “I have forgiven her; I just haven’t forgotten what she has done.”

I counseled him that every time a bad memory of what his wife had done popped into his mind, pray, “Dear Lord, I choose to forgive my wife of this hurt because You have forgiven me of every sin I have ever committed, and You have forgotten them all as well.” They soon moved and never came back to see me, so I don’t know if he did what I suggested.

We can choose what we remember by choosing to review it in our minds over and over again. I memorize Bible verses by going over and over them until they stick. Some people do that with the offenses committed against them; that is a sad way to live. Instead, choose to forget the bad and remember the good, and you will be a much happier person and much more enjoyable to be around. Some will think when they read this that they can’t forget the bad, but you can, if you want to, choose to do it until you have trained your brain to do what is right and good.