Christopher,
Forgiveness means eating the cost.
Someone legitimately wronged you. It hurts. They did wrong; they should be punished. Justice means they should pay. They should make it right, at cost to themselves.
Forgiveness says "you no longer owe me". I let it go. I know you legitimately owe me, but I'm choosing to let it go, to not hold it against you. I see that debt you owe, and I write if off. I'm done with it. I eat the cost. And now I'm free of exacting it from you. It is a wonderful place to be, not holding things against people, but instead, blessing them, and wishing them good.
It's a choice you make once, and then have to go on making when you remember it again.
