Forgive, even when it hurts

Greetings:
Nothing can pain, stunt or curtail Christian growth like unforgiveness.
Not being able to forgive someone who has wrong you or being able to forgive yourself for past sins and shortcomings is a definite hinderance to Christian growth.
And yes, forgiveness and the word forget go hand in hand.
The Bible uses the term "forget" in the sense of "escaping notice." 
For example, the Apostle Paul could remember his earlier sins, yet he boldly proclaimed "to forget" (not take notice of those things) that were behind in order to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
In Philippians 3:13-14 we read,  "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
We know that Paul was formally a persecutor and blasphemer...yet he found mercy in the Lord.
Some folks try very hard to forget and fail!  Because it is next to impossible to forget things that happen.
Yet, we can and should not to have them effect our relationship to others.
Memory plays a good function in that we can remember what we before God saved us.  It helps us appreciate and be thankful to God for saving us from that life style and sin.
We are to forgive and not let the memory of past sins against us effect our love for the brethren.
In Matthew 18:21-22, we read that the apostle Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive his brother seven times.
What did Jesus reply? The Lord told him to forgive his brother seventy times seven.
Dr. Johnnie Blount in is book, “Be the Word” says this scripture is telling us to forgive people who have hurt us, wronged us and spiritually release them, because if we don't we hinder and imprison ourselves.
“Envy, jealousy, hatred, bitterness and resentment always bring on sickness, infirmity, poverty and lack,” he writes.
Sir Walter Scott, a Scottish minister, historical novelist, playwright, and poet, had difficulty with the idea of "turning the other cheek' and walking in forgiveness.
But Jesus' words took on special meaning one day when Scott threw a rock at a stray dog to chase it away.  His aim was straighter and his delivery stronger than he had intended, for he hit the animal and broke its leg.
Instead of running off,  the dog limped over to him and licked his hand. 
Sir Walter never forgot that touching response.  He wrote, "That dog preached the Sermon on the Mount to me as few ministers have ever presented  it."  Scott said he had not found human beings so ready to forgive their enemies.
In the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus told his disciples was the 'way to pray', we say, “Forgive us our  trespasses (sins) and those who trespass (sin) against us.”
That's a declaration or a promise to God that we are going to forgive others, just was we have been forgiven in our shortcoming – our sins.
The Rev. R. T. Kendall in his book, “The Lord's Prayer” writes, “Forgiving those who have been unjust, wicked, evil and vile is the hardest thing in the world to do. Not only that, you have to keep doing it  –– days later, weeks later, years later.”
Forgiveness is a basic Christian principle that each of us has to walk. It's not easy, but the freedom it provides is a real joy.

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