I have read your views that to forgive for my own sake is honorable because it centers on self-care.  I, though, have a different reason for forgiving.  I want to forgive so that I am acting in a consistent way with my faith.  God asks us to forgive and I want to honor that.  Forgiving enriches my life and those around me.  Do you think self-care is more important than my views on this?

No, I do not think that forgiving for the sake of self-care is more important than your reason for forgiving.  In general (but certainly not always), I tend to find this: At first, people are highly motivated to forgive to get rid of the suffering of emotional pain.  Eventually, people develop other reasons to keep forgiving and to forgive other people for offenses.  One such new development is exactly what you are saying, to forgive to be consistent with one’s strongly held beliefs from faith.  So, these two reasons for forgiving are not mutually exclusive.  The one (the reason from faith) often emerges once the inner wounds begin to heal.

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