Do I Have to Forgive People?

This is so important: Love forgives.

Love doesn’t hold a grudge. If you desire to have a happy and fulfilling life, you must forgive. Forgiving is a very significant part of love. Someone once said that refusing to forgive someone and expecting things to go well with you is like drinking poison and thinking the other person is gong to die. It just doesn’t work that way. Unforgiveness doesn’t hurt the other person—it hurts you. When you forgive, however, you are set free.

Forgiveness is crucial when it comes to building relationships, but it is also crucial to the operation of your faith. Jesus makes the act of forgiveness an important part in the faith life. Read Mark 11:25-26. He places tremendous importance on harmony and agreement between believers, and forgiveness plays a vital role in that harmony.

There can be no room in our lives for unforgiveness. As a Christian, when you are unwilling to forgive, you automatically put yourself in a position where Satan can torment and attack you. Unforgiveness, like strife, is a thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy. It holds you in bondage and renders your prayer life powerless. When you forgive, you not only free the other person but you also free yourself from unforgiveness and strife.

This totally goes against the world’s way of thinking and human behavior. To live and walk in forgiveness, you will have to resist pride. At times you will have to go and ask for forgiveness. You will have to forgive others, even as God has forgiven you. But remember, you cannot make it without God’s forgiveness. You cannot have His forgiveness unless you forgive. Only when we have forgiving hearts will true harmony come into our lives and bring us into a position of total harmony with God and one another.

- See more at: http://www.kcm.org/real-help/relationships/learn/do-i-have-forgive-people#sthash.x9RJkczC.dpuf