Forgiveness - What's in it for you?

Forgiveness...

Every christian has been told to 'forgive and forget', but why? The other person has hurt you so bad, and maybe you want revenge, or maybe you just don't want to talk to them anymore. Why should you forgive them? They didn't apologize to you, nor do they show any remorse. Maybe, they hurt you more as everyday goes by. Why should you forgive them?

Well, I for one has held on to a lot from the past. If anything, I even went on a dating strike because I hated what guys did to me in the past. My brother always hit (physically) and said mean things to me most of my life, my father left me, older guys have hit (as in flirt) with me, and one church going guy who was also my moms friend sexually harassed me...why should I trust guys?

Of course, you may have some ex-friends, or even ex-boyfriends who cheated on you. You may try to be strong and continue being friends with someone despite of what they did. So why is forgiveness important?

Look at it this way: Let's say, a friend said something rude to you the other day. They may have seen it as a joke, but you knew they said it from the bottom of the heart, and you took offense, but you didn't say anything about it. Who is going to be hurt at the end of the day? YOU! Only you. When you waste days thinking about it, coming up with a scheme to get them back, or just feeling sorry for yourself, you think you are really hurting the other person?

Forgiveness is good for two reasons. Of course, if the other person apologizes, forgiveness is needed to go back to the way things were. But in the end, the only way you can be truly free is when you forgive and let go. Forget about what they did.

What's another reason to forgive? Well...God forgave you, right? If you remember the story of the king who let go of his servants' debt, but the servant didn't let go of his servants  debt...does it make it any sense? We have been forgiven by God himself! You have a chance at heaven because he forgave  and forgot all your sins! No matter how bad or cruel you may have been, you have a chance to be friends with God. And after all this, you can't forgive your friend for saying one rude comment, or your ex for cheating on you?

You figure out which is harder to forgive.