It's Okay to Remember

Jonathan Cahn talked about a learning experience that came while he was on a boat leading a tour to Israel. He told everybody in the group to take a piece of paper and write down something they needed to dispel from their life. He then gathered their pieces of paper, put them in a bag, and solemnly threw the bag into the ocean, as if he were "casting all those things into the sea of God's forgetfulness."
There was one problem though: the bag wouldn't sink. It bobbed up and down, which taught him a powerful lesson. We cast things out of our lives and expect never to deal with them again, and when something bobs up briefly, we let it discourage us and give up. These kinds of things hardly ever completely disappear from our lives instantly, and they will come and go for a while. Still, we shouldn't let it get us down, and as long as we keep giving them to the Lord, eventually they will go away for good.

I equate this to repentance. I've had to repent of some major things in my life, and for a long time, the sins of the past seemed to bob on the water and taunt me, even after repentance. Those times were
brutal, and because of this, I often worried that I had not been forgiven, that I still wasn't good enough. But now I know that those times of remembrance - though they don't come as frequently - are necessary, to remind me of how far the Lord has brought me, and to strengthen my resolve that I will never, ever, ever be where I once was.
And you know what? I'm totally good with that.