Forgiving does not mean forgetting. When we forgive a person, the memory of the wound might stay with us for a long time, even throughout our lives. Sometimes we carry the memory in our bodies as a visible sign. But forgiveness changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. When we forgive our parents for their divorce, our children for their lack of attention, our friends for their unfaithfulness in crisis, our doctors for their ill advice, we no longer have to experience ourselves as the victims of events we had no control over.

Forgiveness allows us to claim our own power and not let these events destroy us; it enables them to become events that deepen the wisdom of our hearts. Forgiveness indeed heals memories.

Emphasis mine

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Sometimes we seem to think we should “forgive and forget” like God does.  Well, God justifies; He doesn’t merely “forgive”; He sets His child back in a proper relationship with Him, due to Calvary.  Justification – “just as if I never sinned” – is a long way from human forgiveness. Only God can justify.  We must forgive as God forgives, but we do not forget.

If we did forget (which we don’t), as opposed to forgiving and knowing why (remembering), don’t you think we’d be confused as to where all our experiences came from?