There are things that God remembers and things that He chooses to forget.
God remembers individuals. The Bible includes lists of names that make up family trees and the ancient nation of Israel. I love that all kinds of people make up Jesus’ family tree – children conceived in incest, affairs and adultery, prostitutes, asylum seekers and refugees. We might be inclined to look down on such people, but God wasn’t ashamed to include them in His Son’s family tree.
In Hebrews 11, various heroes of faith are named for commendation.
When Jesus was a man on earth, He promised that God remembers when we offer even a glass of water in His name so that He can one day give us a reward.
God values individuals. He knit us together in the womb and has good plans for our lives. If Jesus was still a man on earth, you would be the kind of person He would sit and have a coffee or a beer with. He loves you more than can ever know.
But God also chooses to forget: the Bible says that when we’re truly sorry for wrong things we think, say and do, God promises not to remember those sins against us. This is only possible because Jesus took the penalty for all of our sin so that we wouldn’t have to.
I love this God who remembers my name and chooses to forget my sin.