Forgiveness

In 2 Corinthians, Paul teaches that rather than isolate and torment those that 'trespass' against us, we should forgive them and take care of them. He warns that they may fall into worse transgression or fall away if we do punish them. Interestingly enough, Christ gives us a little more incentive to forgive in the book of Mathew chapter 6.

 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Its a pretty great blessing to know that, when we forgive others, God will forgive us of our failings as well. To me this is great because, when we consider that God is willing to move past our faults, we have the opportunity to return to him, learn from him, and be more like him. However, it is also a dangerous warning. If we don't forgive others, God will not forgive us and we get hosed so to speak.