Remembering and forgetting

The enemy of faith is not doubt. The enemy of faith is forgetting.  Faith requires we remember.  Faithlessness happens when we forget.  This is the secret of Christian life and discipline. 

One of my favorite passages is 2 Peter 1:5-9

" For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "

Peter lists  the fruit of the Spirit--those qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit adds to our nature.  These graces grow one after another out of the heart that is continually watered by Christ.

In other words, spiritual fruit does not need to be manufactured.  It just grows as we are attached to the living vine of Christ,  who Himself is attached to God. 

But what if the fruit do not appear.   What went wrong?

Verse 9 "But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

If the fruit does not appear, then  we have forgotten the cleansing of Christ.

Have you ever read the Exodus from the Bible?  It is amazing that the Israelites so easily forgot the hand of God in their lives..  They saw the ten plagues,  walked across the Red Sea on dry land, were fed by miracle food,  watered from a moving rock,  and led by a pillar of fire, yet they kept forgetting. They worried that they were going to die of hunger or thirst or be destroyed by enemies less than a tenth their size.  They forgot the miracles they saw right in front of their eyes.  The nation of Israel forgot the commandments over and over.  The disciples  forgot about Jesus' miraculous power and worried.  They forgot His promises of resurrection. The church forgot salvation by grace for fifteen hundred years. Even today we don't seem to able  to remember God's promises.

A man goes on a business trip, and meets an attractive woman.  Suddenly, he forgets his wife and his wedding vows.  A dieter sees a tasty snack and forgets he cannot have it.  We see other people's sins and forget our own.  We see dangers and forget God's protection. We face death and forget eternity.  We face life and forget His blessings.  We have amnesia  of the soul, and forgetfulness of the heart.

There is only one cure for our forgetfulness--constant repetition.  We need to keep praying, keep rejoicing, keep reading, keep singing,  and keep worshipping.  The moment we look away, we will begin to forget, and that could have disastrous results. 

That's why we keep praying worshipping and reading the Bible--not so that we will learn, but so we won't forget. 

Have we forgotten we are brothers?  Have we forgotten our own sins?  Have we forgotten that we follow in the footsteps of Jesus?  We cannot keep what we cannot remember. If we remember,  we still forever need to be reminded.