I recently discovered that my deleted emails aren’t deleted. I found them stored in a file marked “Deleted.” All twenty-seven thousand, two hundred sixty-two of them!

Much like an email file, many of us store our confessed sins in a deleted file that we keep buried inside our souls. This unseen but ever-present file keeps us tethered to our past mistakes, thereby preventing us from enjoying an abundant, victorious life in Christ. Whenever a situation occurs that reminds us of the past, we haul out that file and ruminate on the garbage one more time. God not only forgives but forgets our sins.

“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Isaiah 43:25

“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34b

Make no mistake, God doesn’t have dementia, and He’s not forgetful. He is omniscient and knows everything about us. But he loves us so much that he chooses NOT to remember. In other words, our LORD takes the extra step, which I didn’t do with my junk emails. He permanently deletes the file that contains our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross offered an irrevocable sacrifice for our sins. 

“For by a single offering,
he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:14

One of the greatest New Year’s resolutions we can make is to forgive ourselves of past mistakes.  After all, if the God of the universe purposely pushes the delete button, shouldn’t we do the same?