To forgive and forget?

Dharmendra Kumar, Suva

The Fiji coups of 1987 led by then lieutenant colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, who overthrew the government of Fijian prime minister the late Timoci Bavadra, is something that I will never be able to forget.

As a 21-year-old then I saw first-hand from the 6th floor of Ganilau House the horrors of a military coup.

Later Mr Rabuka said he was sorry for what he did in 1987 and sought forgiveness. We’ve all heard it a thousand times, “you need to forgive and forget. Forgive and forget.

Those words roll off our tongues with ease, but if we are honest they don’t roll out of our hearts with ease.

Forgiveness is a challenge and forgetting is downright impossible.

We need to forgive because it’s a command from God. Forgiveness is a big word.

It’s huge, even gigantic, but it is something that takes years to do. It takes grace from God to forgive.

God tells his people to forgive one another.

He loves us too much to want us to go down the destructive road of unforgiveness.

However, I don’t believe you have to forget the wrong someone did to you. You can’t do it even if you tried, but rather you need to use the incident as a learning tool.

I believe that those seeking forgiveness must be genuine.

The evidence of repentance presented must express deep humility. Repentance begins by coming to our senses and admitting that we have done wrong and when we do that we have God’s grace. True repentance is a heart matter and between you and God.