Some believe that after we die, we will have no memories of our past lives. Many church leaders teach that our sins will be wiped from our memories, but our loved ones and the good things we had done will remain. The majority of church leaders seem to lean on the thought that Heaven is so glorious that we simply choose not to think about our past lives or the troubles that we may have experienced in it. In the book of Revelation, John reveals to us something interesting concerning our memories of our past lives: Revelation 6:9-10, "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God.......And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, how long O Lord holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth." Obviously, the people who have died for our Lord, remembers the wrong that was done to them.
Isaiah 65:17 "for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." The previous verse says that our "former troubles are forgotten," so this may indicate that only the bad problems that we experienced in our earthly life will be remembered no more.
Luke 16:19-31 This tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man. This story may validate the dead remembering their past lives, though we are not told if Lazarus remembers. We could only assume in these passages, that if the rich man and Abraham remembers, then Lazarus probably does as well. Lazarus was "comforted", maybe of remembering some of the bad things that he may have went through.
2 Corinthians 5:10 "for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Its quite obvious that this passage tells us that we will remember our earthly lives, the good and the bad, to give an account about them.
Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." The new Heaven and earth will be so spectacular that we will forget the sins of the former earth.
Final thoughts
When we examine scripture closely, we cannot conclusively rule out that Christians will forget everything about their lives on earth. Heaven will be so amazing and glorious that we may simply choose not to think about it. Like a child that is scared of the shadows in his room at night, will simply forget that fear the next day when playing on the playground. In Heaven, our primary focus is being with the Lord, honoring and worshiping Him. The reunion that we will have with friends and family may serve to honor our Heavenly Father by remembering those instances He intervened on our behalf. The martyrs in Revelation chapter 6 obviously remembered some aspects of their earthly lives. Also, it is highly likely that Christians will remember far more in Heaven than before, because God may allow us to see more of how He intervened in our lives, and how our righteous deeds "will follow" us to Heaven, Revelation 14:13.
Isaiah 65:17 "for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." The previous verse says that our "former troubles are forgotten," so this may indicate that only the bad problems that we experienced in our earthly life will be remembered no more.
Luke 16:19-31 This tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man. This story may validate the dead remembering their past lives, though we are not told if Lazarus remembers. We could only assume in these passages, that if the rich man and Abraham remembers, then Lazarus probably does as well. Lazarus was "comforted", maybe of remembering some of the bad things that he may have went through.
2 Corinthians 5:10 "for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Its quite obvious that this passage tells us that we will remember our earthly lives, the good and the bad, to give an account about them.
Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." The new Heaven and earth will be so spectacular that we will forget the sins of the former earth.
Final thoughts
When we examine scripture closely, we cannot conclusively rule out that Christians will forget everything about their lives on earth. Heaven will be so amazing and glorious that we may simply choose not to think about it. Like a child that is scared of the shadows in his room at night, will simply forget that fear the next day when playing on the playground. In Heaven, our primary focus is being with the Lord, honoring and worshiping Him. The reunion that we will have with friends and family may serve to honor our Heavenly Father by remembering those instances He intervened on our behalf. The martyrs in Revelation chapter 6 obviously remembered some aspects of their earthly lives. Also, it is highly likely that Christians will remember far more in Heaven than before, because God may allow us to see more of how He intervened in our lives, and how our righteous deeds "will follow" us to Heaven, Revelation 14:13.
