They say, forgive and forget. Though hard, I would always pray that I find it in my heart to forgive those who hurt me. I do not know if I was able to do that already as I would still feel uneasy whenever I am with the person I would rather choose not to see. But what I am certain is this – Letting go of anger and bitterness can work wonders. Not only for my outlook but for my health as well. Not to mention the relationship I have with that person.
However, the recent story we read about the Man and the Serpent taught us otherwise. It said, forgive but not forget.
The Man and the Serpent
Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten
A countryman’s son by accident trod upon a Serpent’s tail, which turned and bit him so that he died. The father in a rage got his axe, and pursuing the Serpent, cut off part of its tail. So the Serpent in revenge began stinging several of the Farmer’s cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the Farmer thought it best to make it up with the Serpent, and brought food and honey to the mouth of its lair, and said to it: “Let’s forget and forgive; perhaps you were right to punish my son, and take vengeance on my cattle, but surely I was right in trying to revenge him; now that we are both satisfied why should not we be friends again?”
“No, no,” said the Serpent; “take away your gifts; you can never forget the death of your son, nor I the loss of my tail.”
Forgive but do not forget
Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten
Perhaps there would always be that someone who hurt us badly and it’s just so hard to forgive. But then to let go of our anger and forgive is something we are expected to do as a Christian. Though hard, may we find it in our hearts to forgive, not for them but for ourselves. To forget, though, is entirely different. And it is only now that I am able to reflect on this –
To forget, however, is not a necessity so we can take the valuable life lessons with us.
Oh this is something I definitely live by. I can forgive some people easily but I don’t always forget the wrong things done to me because I want to make sure they don’t happen to me again especially with the same people.
A very nice sharing of a story to bring out the life lesson, to forgive but not to forget. Frankly, I do agree as not every times, we can forgive & forget. Especially those incidents that really hit us badly before. I trust that I would be easier to forgive, but would not forget easily. Cheers,SiennyLovesDrawing
I definitely agree… some people might say that you should learn to forgive and to forget but in reality, it is merely impossible to do… personally, i can forgive someone who made a mistake but forgetting what they did is a different story… for me those mistakes are lessons for me to learn… some events in our life however should be forgotten especially if this becomes a burden in your life already.. past experiences are sometimes haunting us so better leave those baggage behind
As William Barclay says, “Forgiveness is the most costly thing in the world”. Forgive and forget is easier said than done. I can forgive too but forgetting is hard for me, parang may scar na hindi nabubura.
yes, to forget is such a difficult thing to do. i always pray that i find it in my heart to forgive as well.
I am struggling with this, I can never forgive that easy and I think its in my personality to avenge before I can forget.hehe
I am truly sorry with this kind of perspective, so the line “Do not do unto others, what you do not want to do unto you” is easier to practice.
we always tell that golden rule to the boys so they will be sensitive enough of others. I hope they will put that line into their hearts.