To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that prisoner was you.

A bitter heart is a bitter soul. Many times the things people do will leave a stain. A stain that cannot be wiped away. As a matter of fact, it’s more like a scar. A look at it reminds you of every drop of hurt, every slash of cut. The worse part is when it accumulates. Hurt after hurt. Before you know it, scars. One after another. 

You’ll never look at the person the same way again. You hold a bitter grudge that every single thing that person does, disturbs you, sickens you and maddens you. But it ultimately destroys you. Being bitter doesn’t hurt the one you’re upset with. It hurts you. And in truth, you need to let it go. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it surely enlarges the future.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that prisoner was you - Lewis B. Smedes