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Because we ourselves need forgiveness for what we do wrong - from the people to whom that wrong has been directed, and from God. We cannot hope to have forgiveness if we ourselves are not ready to forgive others. Jesus explained that we should always treat others how we ourselves would like to be treated - in other words, love your neighbour as you would love yourself. Imagine doing something terribly wrong. So wrong that you are ashamed of what you did and the person that you wronged was bitter and condemning of you - and rightly so. Now imagine that many years later you were a reformed character, you did many good things, gave to charity and so on and you suddenly met that person again - the one whom you wronged so many years ago. Now imagine that person still bitterly condemning you for something that had occurred many years before, at a time that you were a different person in character and outlook. How would you feel? Would you now feel hard done by because that person had still a huge issue with the behaviour of a person that you 'left behind' all those years ago? This illustrates why forgiveness is such an important thing. If one forgives from the heart, it means that relationships that have been broken heal much more quickly, the forgiven person feels so much better and can reform more quickly, and, believe it or not, the person who forgives actually feels too a great weight lifted off them - they are no longer weighed down with bitterness and hate. In the US there is a show called 'Jerry Springer', and in the UK there is a similar show called 'Jeremy Kyle' where members of the public air their family problems in the studio. One only has to look here to see where a lack of forgiveness can take a family that was once close. On one episode recently there was a family whose members had not spoken to each other for many years - father was at odds with daughter, mother against son, son against his sister, and the couple estranged. Aunts and uncles were also at loggerheads because they had taken sides condemning some members and being in cahoots with others. They all hated each other with a venomous hate, and the bitterness ran deep. But when questioned no one could remember the initial cause of the family breakdown - it had gone into their family history and no one could give the real reasons why they hated each other - they just did hate each other because they did. After realising this, only when each member of that family forgave each other for past wrongs - and meant it - that reconciliation could take place and the family could become one loving unit once more. As a result the mother and father were reunited, and they even welcomed into their hearts grandchildren that they not only had not met before, but didn't even know existed - because of the rift that was between them and their children. They are now part of their lives - imagine the effect that that had on the children - to have loving grandparents for the first time in their lives. Such is the power of forgiveness.
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DevinForgiving someone is important because do you want to spend your whole life holding a grudge on someone ? I don't think so... You want to be a good person don't you ? Most people do it because they don't want to be mad at someone forever and soon enough you regret it and want to forgive in the end but it becomes to late. Most people are good people so they don't stay mad at someone forever.
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