Some people can’t seem to ever forgive, and some people say that they do forgive but their subsequent actions belie those very words; for in truth there are very few people that can genuinely forgive another person for a terrible wrong, and of which of those few, there is virtually nobody that is able to forgive someone as if it never even happened. For whatever reason or reasons, people that have been wronged, often can’t seem to fully let go of that wrong, probably because they are unable or seemingly incapable of forgiving someone of something as if it never happened; mainly because it did happen, and therefore still on some level, it bothers them.
Each one of us can take great solace in recognizing and knowing that our God, forgives us wholly and completely as if all of the wrongs that we have committed actually never happened; and in consideration that God is the ultimate wisdom, it would behoove us, to try to emulate that very same characteristic in the here and now. This indicates that after some degree of appropriate reflection, we need to as much as possible, learn to forgive others as if what so occurred, never happened; and until we do, we ourselves will be incomplete, because that lack of forgiveness, as well as that lack of unconditional love, makes us less than what we were created to be.
Those that look upon forgiveness of another, as something akin to a sacrifice, have got it all wrong; rather a much better and more appropriate perspective is to see that when we have been wronged, we need to awaken and to recognize that we too, have undoubtedly erred in our own way, as well; and as much as we so desire to be forgiven, we then need to forgive, for what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So then, our forgiveness so being provided to another, is while being beneficial for that person that did that wrong, is equally beneficial if not more so, for the person so forgiving, for in our forgiveness for others, we too are forgiven.
While there are plenty of valid reasons why even in forgiveness we should not forget, as well as there being good reasons why we would want to remember exactly what so happened; the truth of the matter is that those that keep score, have made a common but tragic error, for scorekeeping has nothing to do with expanding our heart to accommodate the reality that human beings are prone to imperfection, and therefore to expect perfection by others or of our own self in our character and in our behavior, is to expect the impossible. Rather, it is the responsibility of all to do the best within our abilities, as well as to continually learn from our mistakes and our failed efforts, so as to thereby be of material benefit and of help to our fellow sojourners; so that when we come to the bridge of having been wronged by another, we do not burn that bridge, or walk away from that bridge, but we utilize that bridge for the very purpose that it was built for -- so as to cross successfully to the other side.