One of the most unique things in all the world is a person's memory. Many years ago Dr. Wilbur Penfield, the eminent Canadian brain surgeon, discovered that the human mind stores a permanent record of every experience, and when the brain is electrically stimulated, it can call up in vivid detail all of these experiences.
This marvelous ability to remember is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it sets man above animals and largely accounts for his spectacular progress. However, memory can be devastating when it locks in on our past mistakes, failures, and sins. All of us remember things we are ashamed of, things we’d like to forget. We have all sinned. And we cannot forget it. We can no more keep our mind from returning to past sins than we can keep the tide from returning to the shore.
The memory of past sins can drain our life of joy and peace and usefulness in the present. There is no way of telling how many thousands of people suffer emotional torment due to the memory of past sins. What we need to overcome the memory of our sins is the assurance of God’s forgiveness. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Forgiveness does not mean that the memory of sin is removed. That can never happen. God forgets our sin but we can’t. It does mean, however, that our relationship with God is restored and our wrong is no longer held against us. The acceptance of this forgiveness is the only way to live at peace with the memory of sin.