THE WONDER OF CLEANSING

Sinful Memories

The Greek word for ‘conscience’ can also be translated as ‘consciousness’. You may not be aware that memories of sin are stored as images in your (sub)consciousness. What you see once with your eyes, your memory can call back a thousand times. These impure images have been seared onto your retina as it were. They can haunt you in the form of nightmares, reliving the experience and flashbacks, just as King David experienced: ‘For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night’⁴².

Not only is the memory of the sin stored in your consciousness, but also the pain in the memory of the sin. Professional and pastoral counsellors can hardly ever, if at all, reach this pain, because the painful memories have been repressed in order for you to survive. Through the wonder of the of the Cross, however, God can do the impossible and cleanse your consciousness from acts that lead to death: ‘How much more then, will the blood of Christ cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death?’’⁴³.

Throug the years I have seen God answer our prayers time and again, when we ask Him to cleanse a person’s (sub)consciousness layer by layer, with the blood of the Lord Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit comes to lovingly touch the pain that is stored in the memories of the sin, so that inner healing can take place.