Biblically, there is a ton of advice regarding forgiveness. I recently started a bible study at Hope and my group leaders encouraged us to live out Colossians 3:12-15 which just so happens to address forgiveness. (Side note: coincidentally I had this verse hanging on my wall before they shared it with us...God thing? I think so)
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
There you have it, "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone." Pretty self explanatory, basically Paul is putting it out there and is sayin "get over it people, move on because everyone makes mistakes." THEN he adds shortly later "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Paul is like "hahahahaha even though you can't stand them and really don't want to forgive them you are commanded to love them."
My problem is forgiveness isn't easy, and no I don't want to forgive you (broad application) to be honest. I've come to a point in my life and I've realized I don't have to live with people's bullshit. I will tolerate it for a little bit because everyone has a little here and there but when it gets excessive I shut down and block that person out of my life because it is easy. So is ignoring people and treating them like crap but that's not really fair. I just need to find that fine line between shutting someone out to prevent excessive pain and toughing it out and enduring emotional damage.
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