Have You Really Forgiven?

Forgiveness is an essential Christian virtue.  Over and over again the Bible commands us to forgive, just has God has forgiven us (Mt 6:12).  But how do you know if you've truly forgiven someone?  One way to know is that forgiveness does not bring up past sins.  When some people get mad they get historical.  When you sin against them, they bring up all the times you've sinned against them in the past.  That's not forgiveness.  The Bible says that "love does not keep a record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5)."  To keep a record doesn't simply mean to remember; you can't force yourself to not remember things.  It means to speak about it.  To dredge it up.  True forgiveness leaves the past in the past.  It imitates God, who "will never again remember their sins (Hb 8:12)," and who has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12).