For me, one of the most important characters of being a good Christian is to  possess the ability to forgive. Not just to accept an apology but to truly forgive from the heart. That means harboring no malice or vengeful thoughts towards those who may have wronged you.  How can we truly be forgiven our sins if we, ourselves, are unable to forgive others first. For as Paul states in Corinthians, "Let us celebrate with not with the old leaven of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 



In today's society with all the scams and cons, its hard not to feel anger towards those who exist only to benefit themselves at any cost, even at the cost of others. There are liars and thieves at every corner who wouldn't give a second thought when destroying another person's life in order to to obtain personal gains. There are bearers of false witness who sin in order to exalt their own status. I've been on the receiving as well as the perpetrating end of such sins and if I honestly want to be forgiven of my sins, I must forgive those who have sinned against me. As Jesus has taught us, "Love thy neighbor and love thy enemy as well."



I find myself searching my heart daily and if I find any vengeful feelings, I pray them away. That doesn't mean I bury them inside. I let them surface and then, through the power of prayer and faith in Jesus, I wash them away. I still feel myself getting annoyed often over such trivial things as a bad driver in traffic or self promoters in the work place but I feel I am slowly beginning to be able to wash these feelings away before they fester. Jesus has taught me to forgive my brothers from my heart and I must say, on a spiritual level, it feels very good.