The more forgiveness you give, the more forgiveness will be there for you when you need it. No matter what may happen.
"…Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us…" (Matt. 6:12)

Forgiveness is something that is not always such an easy thing to do. When someone does you wrong (whether they did it intentionally or unintentionally), your flesh usually doesn't want to just let that issue go. The flesh wants to hold a grudge, retaliate, punish, and get even...and often our own reasoning will try to justify such intentions.

But none of those things will ever solve the problem.

We cannot withhold forgiveness from others without damaging ourselves. When we don't forgive, we block the opening to receive forgiveness when we need it for our wrongs. God loves us all and His mercy and forgiveness are always there for us when we fail. But we cannot practice withholding forgiveness from others and at the same time expect to receive forgiveness when we do wrong.

A Different Perspective
Whenever someone does something wrong or hurtful against you, stop for a moment and put yourself in their place. If you were doing what they just did to you, wouldn’t you want them to forgive you instead of getting even?

Beyond that, would you want to ever send someone to hell for something they did to you? Unforgiveness toward someone is like temporarily sending them to hell. Withholding mercy from them is leaving them in a place of torment.

You hold the power to either keep them bound or to liberate them from their sin. Jesus said, "If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven." (John 20:23 NLT)

Power to Pardon
God gave Jesus the power on earth to forgive people of their sins, and when Jesus was going to ascend to the Father, He gave that same power to forgive sins to us—His Body. So we now carry the power to pardon people's sins—and what better place could we begin than to forgive the very ones who have brought us hurt?!

A great example of this forgiveness is recorded in Acts 7. Stephen, a great man of God, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, delivered a speech to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. However, his listeners were cut to the heart by his words, stopped their ears, and ran at him to throw him out of the city.

As they were stoning him to death, Stephen cried out to God and said, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he died. Stephen carried in him the power to forgive, and even in the face of his own death, he chose to release the people who were doing him wrong from there sins.

Amazingly, one of those people present was a man named Saul of Tarsus. Not long after Stephen’s death, Saul had an encounter with Jesus appearing to Him on the road to Damascus. As a result, he became born-again and his name was changed to Paul – the great Apostle. (Acts 9)

A Good Life
Do you think Stephen's prayer of forgiveness had anything to do with Saul's conversion? In line with the Scriptures, I believe it had a lot to do with it. And I believe our prayers of forgiveness will have a lot to do with the lives of those who sin against us.

We hold the key. Offering mercy and forgiveness toward others will gain not only for them, but also for us a far greater reward than any other action ever could. Forgiveness is the road to a good life.

The more forgiveness you give, the more forgiveness will be there for you when you need it. No matter what may happen. Remember that through Jesus you have the power to forgive.