What exactly does it mean to forgive?

I don't really understand the concept of forgiveness. What exactly does it mean? I know a person who is extremely toxic and manipulative. She can be dangerous at times. She has wronged me over and over again. I have a lot of hate and fear for/of her. In this type of situation what would it mean to forgive her? How can you forgive someone completely without setting yourself up for more rough times?What exactly does it mean to forgive?
Forgiving someone does not mean that you have to stay in a bad situation and subject yourself to further abuse hon!





The thing about forgiveness is that in reality (and my experience) it is more to the benefit of the person doing the forgiving. To forgive you have to let it go. Acknowledge what hurts you have suffered, accept the lessons you have learned from them, and let it go.





HOWEVER, you owe it to yourself to take care of yourself. You can forgive a person their offenses against you (and sometimes it's not easy) but that does not necessitate that you stand around and allow them to commit further offenses. The idea being that you go your separate ways without letting the anger and pain swell and fester inside of you.





best wishesWhat exactly does it mean to forgive?
To forgive essentially means to forget .....Lord God said .... ';I, even I , am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins '; --Isaiah 43:25 ...that is being forgiven by God
I don't think forgetfulness is ever wise, be for past kindness, or pain.





Confucius points out, though people are always asking how to know another's heart, that it easy. Just watch how they act.
Forgive and stay away from her totally. Staying by her side is like asking for more punishment. Pray to God to either send her away or take you elsewhere. God is awesome enough that He can provoke a situation just like that. If you are honest, sincere when you pray. God can do miracles.
Forgiveness is the key to salvation. Forgiveness is when in your heart you know that the person made a honest human mistake. But you should not forgive anyone who comes under the presser of the devil because they are weak and did not fulfil the word of God
I have been struggling with this situation myself and recently learned a new concept called ';Radical Forgiveness';. It means accepting the perfection of this other person, that the universe put her in your life to help you work on your weaknesses and shortcomings. She offered you an opportunity to resolve old conflicts, perhaps from your childhood, involving a parent, a relative or friend. To forgive would mean a lot of time and thought, reliving and writing about the pain you suffered while with this person. My pain comes from blaming myself for being so trusting, for staying in an abusive marriage and putting our children in jeopardy. Today I am discovering the lessons that I missed, ie., how to say no, how to set boundaries and how to let go of the anger in order to get on with my life. For me, I think I can forgive completely but do not see that we will ever reconcile. He's moved on.
I struggle with this too, but someone explained to me that you can forgive someone, yet still have emotions when thinking about what they did to you. Forgiveness means that you will not ';get back'; the person who wronged you....you forgive them, and if you run into them, you don't try to retaliate-you let it rest on Jesus because you remember how He forgave you for all the sins you committed...how He died for those sins and although He remembers them, He does not hold them against you.





Hope that helped a bit. :)
Forgiveness is something you do for yourself, not the other person. It's accepting the fact that the person has some serious problems and will never change. You're most likely not going to get an apology from them. They don't care what they did to you. You stop obsessing over this person and the situation and you move on. You leave justice to God. Forgiveness is about letting go before the bitterness you've harbored kills you.