Forgive and DON'T Forget

I have forgiven exes for the terrible things they did to me and the hurt they put me through. But thank God I have not forgotten what it is like to be out there in the dating world. It is good not to forget, because remembering makes me appreciate what I have with my husband all the more. For instance, I was spending the morning and afternoon today with one of my dearest friends, her husband, and their son. I told my friend how much I appreciate how well I get along with my husband. We get along so well that in three years of knowing him, we have only had two disagreements. That is an excellent record. But with the person I almost married a few years ago, we would get into HEATED, destructive arguments every few days. And we would keep repeating a pattern of breaking up, and making up, and breaking up and making up, over and over. Talk about drama! It was so draining and unhealthy. We broke up so many times in our four years together, that I lost count! Or another ex wanted to force me to marry him by getting me pregnant. He pretended he had a condom on one night, but he actually did not. Thank God I neither got pregnant, nor caught anything. You get the idea. I have forgiven all the pain caused by various things exes have done. But I will never forget. The day I forget, is the day I am vulnerable to the dangerous practice of taking my husband and the great relationship we have for granted. Recently, during the Sunday sermon at church, the preacher pointed out that the popular saying "Forgive and forget" is NOT in the bible. On the contrary. Usually when the word "forget" appears in scripture, the command is to NOT forget. It is definitely worth thinking about!