Forgiving Others is the Greatest Thing You Can Do...For Yourself.

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Of all the actions and miracles Jesus performed in His life, nothing was more important or miraculous than the Atonement. He single handedly made it possible for us to repent from, and rise above the weaknesses and frailties of mortal life. Because of the Atonement, we can all be forgiven for our sins. But there is a commandment from Christ that proves forgiveness isn't just the prerogative of deity. It is also our responsibility to forgive each other. Why? Forgiving someone of what they did against us may or may be meaningful to the other person. Forgiving them actually doesn't put any responsibility on them either way. They are free to accept the forgiveness, reject it, or just plain ignore it. They can even laugh in your face, swear at you and question your parentage for even thinking they did something wrong against you. That is all up to them. The important part of forgiving others is how it frees ourselves. In truly forgiving someone, you are releasing yourself from the clutches of the other person's actions. You are taking charge of your own life and not letting yourself be their victim any longer. In fact, you are no long "their" anything. We also need to realize the other important part of forgiveness... maybe even the most important part. That is forgiving ourselves. So many of us are willing to absolve others of almost anything, but we continue to hold ourselves guilty of things long after we have forgiven everyone else.