All of us were born in sin and we all need forgiveness. Those who don’t forgive quietly presume that a past sin is a reason someone is eternally bad. They don’t seek perfection, though they claim to; they seek to destroy the good contribution people can only make after growing up, repenting, being forgiven, and becoming better people.
There will always be people who preach the message of “past sin”—that we should remember what other people do wrong—even what we have done wrong ourselves. They think that by not forgiving—either themselves or others—they are adding “training weight” to “remember” the horrific past, thereby making everyone stronger. The past must be learned from, but to learn from it, the past must be forgotten, not memorized.
Repent, move unto hope, and move on. Carrying the past’s failures around makes as much sense as carrying training weights all day long. In the gym, weight training can make us stronger after we put down the weights and go out into the world. But, carrying 40lb dumbells all day won’t make anyone stronger; it will interfere with everyone’s day.
People who won’t let go of the past are a poisonous destruction to society and must never be silenced, but always ignored by those who understand the Bible’s teaching that everyone has been forgiven.
Refusal to forgive is actually an trait of Paranoid Personality Disorder, meaning it is deeply connected to fear. Forgiveness involves forgiving others along with being forgiven by others. People who struggle with fear might struggle with forgiveness first.
Every single person needs forgiveness. This is the ramification of the Christian teaching called “Original Sin”. We were each born with sin from Adam, therefore we will commit more sin, therefore we are born needing forgiveness and are born inclined to do more things that will need more forgiveness. Never let the doctrine of “Original Sin” become an excuse to judge, let it be a reminder that everyone falls short of God’s standard.
While we strive to become perfect, and hopefully we get better at non-self-destructive decisions with age and maturation, you and I will always need just as much forgiveness as the worst criminal.