Of anyone I know, God deserves to hold my sins against me.  Of anyone I know, once confessed, God forgives me and forgets.
Psalm 103:12

Unforgiveness causes us to dwell on the things people have done to us.
Unforgiveness causes us to remain angry at people.
Unforgiveness causes resentment and bitterness – in us.

Jesus told us to forgive over and over again, so we wouldn’t be able to remember how many times we forgave one person for one sin against us.

Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’”

Forgiveness frees us up to love others.

When we are wronged, God calls us to forgive, even when there is no apology given or even recognition of the wrong against us.

For God, forgiveness is important enough to emphasize it in His prayer.  We need to learn to forgive and forget, just like God does.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV) “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

~ Take it to heart ~

Is there someone you need to forgive?