The Value of Reminding Ourselves Not to Forget

Are you a list maker? Some of us are prolific at making lists – to-do or “honey do” lists; shopping lists; daily activity lists; Christmas giving lists. But why do we devote time and effort to making lists? It’s simple: To not forget. 

Years ago, I participated in a time management course. (That’s actually a misnomer, since we really can’t “manage” time – we can only decide how to use it.) One of the main ideas of the course was to keep a comprehensive daily list of everything we either needed to do or wanted to do. Rather than maintaining separate lists for work and home, we were advised to list everything together to avoid scheduling conflicts.

 

We were even told to prioritize each one, giving some an “A” priority, meaning failure to get them done would reflect upon us negatively, or a “B” priority, meaning if that thing didn’t get done it wasn’t the end of the world. We could always move it to another day’s to-do list.

 

One of the key points concerned why we make lists in the first place: A lot of mental energy is spent simply trying to remember stuff we don’t want to forget. If you write things down, all you have to remember is to look at the list where you wrote it down.

 

While it’s helpful to use tools to boost our recall, another way of remembering is to periodically review important moments and events in our lives. This is especially true for a healthy and growing spiritual life. 

 

The Scriptures provide us with reviews of what God has done throughout history for His people. For instance, before turning over the leadership of the Israelites to Joshua, Moses recited a lengthy song of remembrance of things both good and bad. 

 

First, he reminded the people of Israel about the Lord’s unchanging character. “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does not wrong, upright and just is He” (Deuteronomy 32:3-4).

 

After recalling how the Israelites “acted corruptly toward Him…a warped and corrupt generation…,” Moses admonished them, “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you” (Deuteronomy 32:5-7).

 

Immediately following Moses’ death, Joshua also underscored the importance of remembrance. To the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, who had chosen not to establish their homes on the other side of the Jordan, he said, “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land’” (Joshua 1:13).

 

But perhaps the best examples of written reminders are the Psalms, in which King David and other psalmists repeatedly looked back on all God had done through the many generations of the people of Israel, both to praise Him for what He had done and also to refresh their memories so they could find courage to face their present circumstances. 

 

David wrote, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High…. For You have upheld my right and my cause; You have sat on Your throne, judging righteously” (Psalm 9:1-4).

 

There were times when the king of Israel surveyed his problems and struggles and honestly questioned where God was, if He was paying attention at all. Just as we sometimes do. For instance, David began Psalm 10 with the lament, “Why, O Lord, do You stand far off? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” However, later in the same psalm – almost as if searching his own memory – he stated, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry…” (Psalm 10:17).

 

The Bible offers countless other examples of how God has faithfully blessed His people and answered their prayers. These become permanent reminders we can cling to during our own times of need, pain and distress. This helps to counter our tendency to adopt a “what have You done for me lately” mentality.

 

Things are going well; we’re inclined to just take good times for granted, as if that’s what we deserve. Then a crisis emerges and we shift to panic mode. ‘Lord, where are You? I need help! Why is this happening?’ How quickly we’ve forgotten how He’s worked in our lives in the past.

 

Recently, I viewed the sermon by Joel Kovacs, pastor of 514 Church in Columbus, Ohio, speaking about the importance of praise. He said, “When we praise God, we’re putting our minds on something else [than our problems]. Praise not only puts God on the throne, but it also takes away anything that should not be on the throne…. Praise doesn’t change our circumstances. It changes our posture, which changes our perceptions. Praise doesn’t take away suffering, but it dethrones it.”

 

Reading the Scriptures and being reminded of what the Lord has done; joining fellow believers in choruses of praise during a worship service; or humming a praise song to ourselves while mowing the lawn or sweeping the floor. All are ways of remembering – reminding ourselves of who God is, what He has done, and His promises to continue being and doing the same.

 

He assured Joshua, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5), and thousands of years later the writer of Hebrews reiterated that promise: “…because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5).

 

I don’t know if you need this reminder, but I definitely do. Every day.

Writing Things Down So You Won’t Forget Them

Do you like to compile daily to-do lists? Not a to-do list someone else makes for you (like a honey-do list), but your own listing of tasks and appointments for the day. For much of my adult life I’ve done that and take some satisfaction in crossing an item off my list, knowing it’s been accomplished. 

Years ago, my employer enrolled me in two days of time management training. Admittedly, time management is a bit of a misnomer, because we can’t really manage time. We can’t slow it down; can’t speed it up; and certainly, can’t save it for later use. 

 

If it's important enough to
remember, write it down.

However, we can ‘budget’ our time, prioritizing the most important things so they don’t get pushed aside by squeaky-wheel, “urgent” things. I learned to give an ‘A’ priority to items that must be done, ones that would reflect negatively on me if I didn’t complete them. Other things would get a ‘B’ designation – nice to get them done, but if not there’s always tomorrow. I still practice that kind of prioritizing today.

Another thing I learned was to keep one master to-do list, rather than having separate ones for work and my personal life. That basically solved the problem of overscheduling – committing to something for work that conflicted with an important family activity or appointment. 

 

But the most important principle I learned about scheduling and daily planning was to write everything down. Experts say our greatest expenditure of mental energy is repeatedly having to remind ourselves not to forget something. Writing tasks and commitments down eliminates that need – as long as we remember where we wrote them.

 

Writing things down also can serve as a great asset for growing spiritually. At a conference or attending a worship service, for example, we use our eyes and ears to take in whatever’s being said. But how often have you left an event, having heard a powerful message, and then struggled to remember the profound things that impressed you?

 

An easy solution to that problem is to write it down as you’re hearing it. Behavioral scientists tell us that the more senses we engage in an experience, the easier it is to remember. If we see and hear something and then repeat it orally, we’re engaging several senses. Writing down key thoughts is another step in the process of retaining important information. As someone has termed it, “In the ears and over the lips and through the fingertips.”

 

Being a writer, this is second nature, but I always attend a worship service with pen in hand, ready to make notes of anything the pastor says that I want to recall later. I don’t always revisit what I’ve written down, but the simple act of writing down key thoughts helps to impress them on my mind.

 

Some people maintain journals as part of their regular prayer and quiet times. They jot down specific prayer requests and reread them later to see how God has responded. They also write thoughts and ideas they have while reading and studying the Scriptures. 

 

This can also help in doing what King David wrote: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word…. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9,11). For people who find memorizing Bible verses to be a challenge, the physical act of writing down passages they want to remember can be very helpful. Again, the more senses we can involve in the ‘remembering process,’ the better.

 

The Bible’s final book was written by the apostle John, whom the Lord instructed to, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later…” (Revelation 1:19). Much of the Old Testament, scholars tell us, originally was passed down through a very meticulous oral tradition, but over time the process of remembering what the Scriptures taught was made easier by writing down what God had inspired through numerous men.

 

Much of the New Testament consists of letters the apostle Paul wrote to believers in various regions. I suspect that in the process of writing, he not only communicated to his readers the truths God had taught him, but also reinforced for himself the doctrines and precepts he knew to be true. “This is why I write these things when I am absent….the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down” (2 Corinthians 13:10).

 

As Moses was beginning to conclude his leadership responsibilities and pass them along to Joshua, God commanded him, “Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them” (Deuteronomy 31:19).

 

In a similar way, when God teaches us something important – whether through a sermon, something we hear over the radio, at a conference, in a Bible study, during a casual conversation, or as we’re reading the Scriptures – one of the best ways for retaining it is to write it down. That way we don’t have to expend unnecessary mental energy trying to remind ourselves not to forget. You could say it’s the ‘write thing to do’!