The tenth of 15 criticisms I see about forgiveness is this: When you proclaim your forgiveness, it only serves to make the one who offended you feel guilty.

To forgive offers a lot more consequences than just having the offending person feel guilty.  As we saw in our point 9, forgiving can heal you, the forgiver, psychologically.  Your forgiving can help to restore a relationship, if the other is amenable to this.  Yes, your proclamation of forgiving may make the other feel guilty and this is a very good thing if the other is guilty of injustice.  The feeling of guilt may aid the person in repenting and therefore changing unjust behavior.

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