MAX ON LIFE

99. I was saved out of a very sinful lifestyle, which meant I was far from innocent when I got married two years ago. My husband was a virgin when we married. He knew about my past, and I thought he had forgotten all about it. But now it seems as though he's having a hard time with it. He keeps bringing it up, and this is wreaking havoc with our sex life.

There's an old saying: "Love never forgets".

Or is it "Love always forgets?"

I can't remember.

Love never forgets the other person, remembering the reasons that brought them together, keeping them in mind all the time. Love never forgets the sacrifices and the expressions of heartfelt devotion.

Love should forget the mistakes, the wrongdoings, the sin. But it can't. We can't force ourselves to have amnesia. Neither can God.

God cannot forget our sins, but he chooses not to dwell on them. He prefers to see his Son living in us, since Jesus' sacrifice covers our sins (Gal 2:20). He sees us as we are now - sanctified, redeemed, and righteous - instead of who we were before. God puts away the photo albums and prefers to see us live and in person.

We need to forgive the same way and choose not to dwell on one another's failures. Over time, as we refuse to bring those sins to mind, they get lost in the lists of positive qualities we ponder day in and day out.

You may not have been perfect when you married, but you were perfected by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. While your husband remained a virgin in his body, he probably did not remain a virgin in his mind and thus needed the same perfecting work of Jesus in his life.

Just as you would not hold his lustful thoughts against him, he should not hold your lustful lifestyle against you. In God's eye, they are the same. Sin is sin, and both need to be forgiven and put away in the memory drawer.

By: Max Lucado