Forgiveness is giving up your rights to get even & choosing to stop feeding the anger and resentment toward the person who hurt you, but letting out your hurt in a positive way. Actually its more like getting to the place where you can say to the person who harmed you, “I wish for you a blessing on your life”, a more clear explanation can be this that letting all judgments towards the person who has hurt you be handled by God.
But its like even with a clear understanding of what forgiveness is, there are still many people who remain confused about it. There are many popular statements about forgiveness that are false. These wrong ideas, or myths, only confuse us in our journey to be set free from our own prison of unforgiveness.
forgive is to forget? no.
You have no doubt heard people say you need to forgive and forget. Its as though when you forgive someone, some kind of magical amnesia comes over you and you forget the horrible hurt that was brought on you. lol, this is not true. Forgiving others does not eliminate the memory of their violating you. It is because we remember, that the need for forgiveness is real. When you forgive someone you’re not saying that you weren't hurt or that you will forget that hurt. It did happen, but you can forgive, even if you still remember. But with forgiveness and time, that hurt will fade.
To forgive is to excuse or ignore the offender's actions. If you could excuse the behavior of the person who hurt you, forgiveness is not necessary. In fact, what the person who hurt you did is inexcusable. We don't excuse them for what they did. Usually a person who excuses, ignores, or quickly professes forgiveness to another is in denial. Forgiveness will fix the relationship between you and the person who hurt you. You need to make a decision about whether to continue a relationship with the person you are forgiving, or if it would be better to maintain your distance. Just because you forgive someone, doesn't mean you have to lean to that person again.
Forgiveness is a gift we give to others not a favor.
