When it comes to relationships, the question always is, “Should I forgive this person who has hurt me?”

To answer the question, another question is asked: Is the relationship worth saving? If yes, definitely forgive. If not, still definitely forgive. Why the same answer? Because forgiveness is not about the other person. It is for us.

In the Gospel, when you forgive seven times, that only means “a lot”. When you forgive seventy-seven times, that means always.

Three reasons why we have to forgive always:

• Each person hurts us differently: different magnitude, different aspects, different situations, and different people involved. In other words, each situation of being hurt is different so always forgive.
• Practice makes perfect. It is not that we will be immune to being hurt when we always forgive. Getting hurt is always a possibility, especially when we love, we trust, and when we have become vulnerable. However, we do not want anger, resentment, vindictiveness, and a hardened heart. Hence, we forgive to become stronger.
• Forgive because God sees everything. While the most natural tendency is to take revenge and make the person feel that hurting you was his or her biggest mistake, we too must remember that in every act of revenge, two people get hurt – the other person and our own selves. Thus, the animosity just goes on.

Jesus reminds us to love one another. When he was on the cross, one of the last words uttered – “ Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Indeed as the saying goes, “There is no love without forgiveness and there is no forgiveness without love.”