Forgiveness is an important concept. The ability to forgive someone may be considered a characteristic of a good person. Learning how to forgive someone or forgive yourself may partly involve gaining a better understanding of the concept of forgiveness and the definition of forgiveness. What is forgiveness? Below is one possible forgiveness definition:
Forgiveness is a willingness to no longer feel resentment towards a person.
The above definition of forgiveness suggests that forgiveness reflects a change in an attitude towards the person. A person who forgives has a more positive attitude towards someone. However, this does not mean that the person who forgives has accepted the negative behavior. A person can forgive someone and still feel the same about the negative behavior.
There may be a liberating effect of forgiveness as a result of letting go of negative feelings. Thus, forgiveness may be beneficial to the person who forgives.