when people go to heaven, will they have all their memories from time on earth?
if so, what about people who had trauma & bad memories?
will they lose the bad memories & only keep good memories?
or will we all be a clean slate & have no earthly memories?
thanking in advance for answers
There is no reason to believe that God gives us amnesia, indeed this feels like a deprivation of our human life here on earth.
Two passages come to mind here:
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As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." - Genesis 50:20
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And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
We have no idea what it all will mean for God to put all the broken pieces together, setting all things to rights. We have but only inklings and rough sketches, as "For now we see in a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
St. Paul writes, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58) and our Lord Jesus has said, "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:20-21)
What happens here also matters then. That is why, as we recall, our Lord's words concerning the Day of Judgment in Matthew 25, that how we treat "the least of these" is how we treat our Lord Himself. Therefore, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me" (Matthew 25:40). How each every little piece falls into place, in the end, is unknown. But we are given the promise that it will all fit in the end, that everything will fixed, everything will be set to rights, there will be resurrection, and the renewal of all creation,
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Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'
And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' And he said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.'" (Revelation 21:1-7)
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Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:1-5)
In the last, God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28), and "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14), even the wolf dwell with the lamb, and the lion shall eat straw with the ox (Isaiah 11:6, Isaiah 65:25).
The Psalmist has written, "You have changed my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy," (Psalms 30:11), and indeed our Lord has said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4).
The comfort of the Lord is not in erasing our memories, eradicating the lives we lived here in this world; but in transforming our sorrow into gladness. So we should allow ourselves to be surprised by hope, that even our sufferings will not have been in vain, but will have themselves been unseen works for the kingdom of God. Allow ourselves to be surprised by hope, allow ourselves to confess that though we see but through a glass dimly now, we shall, in that Day, "but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12).
-CryptoLutheran