Seeing many people argue endlessly and tiredlessly on this topic of Forgiving and Forgetting usually make me smile or even laugh.
I could remember countless times that the question "Is it possible to forgive and forget when someone offends you?" pops up during Sunday school in church on some Sundays and people get to drag the answer here and there like a cat who just killed a rat and decided to disgrace it around. At the end there still won't be a valid conclusion as to whose answer is right or wrong.
Today, I'll be addressing this from my own end and perspective as everyone is entitled to their opinion.
It is possible to forgive one another's sins but it can never be possible to forget it unless there's involvement of amnesia.
Forgiving is as a result of one's will while forgetting is out of your own control. You don't have power over it except there's a health issue.
Not forgetting about an incident of betrayal or distrust that broke your heart or shattered you but chose to forgive doesn't mean your so called forgiveness wasn't real when you said you had forgiven the offender but only means that the lessons you had from the situation can't be let off.
If anyone could possibly forget the offenses committed against them after forgiving then no one would be able to remember those who have helped them in the past, present and future because the same special amnesia would work on the good memory aspect too.
As long as we live, we have people close and far away from us that would offend us and forgiving them is the only way we could have our inner peace but there's no crime if it crosses our minds sometimes when we remember.
So many people had walked through my life, some who came in to stay and some who came to spend a little time before setting out. They are out of my life not because I had not forgiven them but because I decided to learn from what they've done to me, avoiding any other occurrence.
Most time, I might not just remember about what they've done to me in the past, this is not because I forgot but because I let the past remain past. As long as something that can remind me about this particular incident that happened to me occur, then I will surely remember.
There was a time an office friend of mine had financial clashes. She had to sort her house rent which was urgent because the landlady came requesting for it before the due time and this friend of mine had locked her rent in a savings app which she can't unlock even if she's on a dying bed and but she not paying the rent means she has to evacuate the apartment for a new tenant to pay.
At that same time, her debit card had issues and she had to wait for the bank to resolve it before she can have access, so even her welfare was at stake so I had to come in to borrow her the rent and I had to offer her my card when she mentioned about how she's finding it hard to get the things she need offering her my card to sort herself till she sorts her financial crisis.
I got so disappointed and offended when I heard some rumors in the office and someone confirmed it to me when she was trying to warn me to be careful around the person I called a friend who told others that I was a mugu (like a senseless spender of a person) who gave out her card to a friend. I got so shattered and cried in the office that day feeling so bad that I did what I did all because I looked out for her and tried to provide solution, even entrusting her with my card all to solve her problems and then refund me when she unlocks her savings account.
I confronted her later since she had noticed my withdrawal from her and was trying to know what happened. She denied it of which I knew was a lie because I told no one about giving her my card to help her out of her situations so how come someone else knew till it was passed around and became office side talks. I forgave her and had to move on since she pleaded but there's no way It's possible to forget such a thing that caused me to shed tears and re-determined that having close friendship is not meant for me.
We can forgive from the dept or our hearts but forgiving and forgetting what happened is not realistic unless health issues like amnesia is involved like I've mentioned earlier and this doesn't mean that we've not moved on.
Just like this case I mentioned above, I no longer think about it until I had this post to write on so it doesn't mean I've not forgiven her but it's still there in my memory which I can possibly recall.
It is not a crime that we can't forget but might be a crime if we can't forgive
I'll be dropping my 🖊️ here on the Hive Learners prompt
Thanks for reading through 🤗
All images are Mine