Pastor Rick Warren: God Doesn't Want You to 'Forgive and Forget'

Veronica Neffinger | iBelieve Contributor | Updated: Apr 28, 2016

Pastor Rick Warren: God Doesn't Want You to 'Forgive and Forget'

Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren recently said on his website that the phrase “forgive and forget” is not actually biblical.

"You've heard this phrase over and over: 'Forgive and forget.' There's only one problem with it: You can't do it," Warren writes on his website.

"You really can't forget a hurt in your life. In fact, you can't even try to forget it. Because when you're trying to forget, you are actually focusing on the very thing you want to forget," he continues.

Instead of trying to forget about hurt, Warren says God offers a better way.

"Forgetting is not what God wants you to do. Instead, he wants you to trust Him and see how He can bring good out of it. That's more important than forgetting, because then you can thank God for the good that he brought out of it. You can't thank God for things you forget," Warren explains, as reported by ChristianToday.com.

Warren, who is the author of the bestseller, The Purpose Driven Life, went on to say that there is a lot of evil in this world, and things like diseases, death, divorce, war, rape, and abuse are not according to God’s Will, but yet God can make good come out of those terrible things.

Warren quotes from Romans 8:28 which says: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

“He [God] gives you peace in your heart that comes from knowing that even if you don't understand the hurt in your life, you can still forgive, knowing that God will use that pain for good," Warren concludes.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: April 28, 2016



Pastor Rick Warren: God Doesn't Want You to 'Forgive and Forget'