If you forget how someone has hurt you, does that mean you’ve forgiven that person? When the incident comes to mind again, do you still feel hurt or get angry with that person?
If you do, you’ve not forgiven that person and moved on. You’ve merely forgotten about the whole incident.
True forgiveness means you will never feel hurt or get angry with that person regardless of how many times that incident replays in your head.
We must forgive because it’s for our good, not the transgressors’. We forgive so that we can move on. We forgive so that the past (or that transgressor) won’t hold us hostage in the present.
Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that we have to forget what that person has done to us.
Not forgetting doesn’t mean you’ll become resentful. Because if you’re bitter, you’ve not forgiven.
Not forgetting doesn’t mean you will become wary of the world and apathetic.
Not forgetting means you’ve learned from your past experiences and now choose whom you can or can’t trust so that you won’t make the same mistake again.
So, yes. Forgive, but don’t forget.
