A theme I used for a couple of wedding sermons over the years was “Remember and Forget.” I would talk about the list of things we have looked at the last couple of days, the things love does and does not do as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. But in my previous devotions I skipped over one phrase so that we could give it special attention today:

 1 Corinthians 13:5  [Love] keeps no record of wrongs.

There are things you should remember and things you should forget. In a marriage, you need to remember your anniversary. You need to remember to do your chores. You need to remember the promises you made to each other. You need to remember that both of you are dearly loved children of God. A successful marriage is based on remembering who you are, what you have promised, and to whom you belong.

But you will also need to forget some things. “Love … keeps no record of wrongs.” The forgetting can be just as difficult as the remembering, and it is just as important. We are all sinners. We will do wrong. Love means forgiving and forgetting. That means once you forgive someone for something, you should not keep bringing up.

While that is certainly true and important in the marriage relationship, God tells us we should love all people that way. After all, you have a relationship with Jesus that is based on remembering and forgetting. Jesus remembers your needs, your concerns and your dreams. He hears your prayers and promises to never leave you. He remembers.

But Jesus also forgets. He forgives you and forgets your sins. He died on the cross to pay for your sins and keeps no record of them because of your faith in Him.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (A Quote of Jeremiah 31:34)

Remember the love Jesus has shown you in offering Himself as the payment for your sins. And when you forgive someone, you should forget that person’s faults and failures, because love keeps no record of wrongs.