Someone asked me to forgive him when I still was quite angry. I did say, “I forgive you,” but I made a self-promise to try to forgive the other person. I now feel like a hypocrite since I spoke the words of forgiveness while harboring a great deal of resentment. Does this make me a hypocrite, then?
You made a commitment to yourself to carry on the forgiveness process in your own heart (and most likely in your interactions with the individual), so when you uttered the words of forgiveness, you most definitely had good intentions. To act contrary to your own convictions or even your own intentions is to be a hypocrite. Yet, you had good intentions when it comes to forgiveness. You were committing to forgiveness, and I think this is a heroic gesture. Even though you were not feeling particularly forgiving at the moment, you were deciding to forgive. This demonstrates that your words and your intentions are consistent. Consequently, you were not behaving hypocritically. If you need more work in forgiving this person, particularly with regard to your feelings, then you can always continue with the forgiveness process.
