Choosing Forgiveness

So, I'm trying to finish a few books before my classes start up since I don't think I'll have time to do much besides study and work. Anyway, I'm reading Choosing Forgiveness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It's a must-read, in my opinion. I think each of us can "forgive" someone without actually forgiving them. You tell someone you've forgiven them and then you constantly talk about the hurt that that person has done in your life. Is that really forgiveness? We're such sinful human beings that we don't want to forget the bad someone has done in our life. We want others to see them as bad as we do. But how is that Christlike? When Jesus died on the cross He died for our sins. Our slate is wiped clean and we're given a fresh start. Why can't we forgive others like that? Well, you may say it's because we're not perfect like Christ. That's true. But, how can you never forgive someone when Christ has forgiven you? What example do you show to other nonbelievers? They see you go about professing to be a Christian and how you have been forgiven, but then they see you can't even forgive someone who hurt you in some way, either physically or mentally. And why is that? It's because we want our friends to see the bad in someone else so we look better and our faults will be overlooked.
Is this not true? Haven't each one of us fallen into this snare before? As much as I would love to say that I haven't, I can't. I have said that I've forgiven and then I will constantly bring up how that person hurt me.  I don't want it to be like that anymore. I want to say to others that when I forgive someone there's a sign that I hold to that says "No Fishing Allowed". And what that means is that I won't go fishing to bring up all the past hurt and mistakes that someone did to me. I will leave it and move on. Start over and make a fresh start because Christ did the same for me.
I know I make mistakes and it won't always be easy to forgive others and not go "fishing", but by God's grace, I will do my best.

Here are some quotes from Nancy's book:

Every time I refuse to forgive , anytime I hold a grudge, I am like the man who grabbed his debtor by the throat, demanding, "Pay back what you owe me."

One Definition of Unforgiveness: Like drinking poison and hoping someone else would die.

The Devil always wins when we fail to forgive.

As believers, we are told that God has forgiven "all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

At one time, the "record" was right there, accusing us, exposing us, vindicating His righteous anger against us. But with one press of the delete key, our holy, merciful God erased the whole thing. Nothing was saved on a backup disk. Nothing printed out in hard copy. Nothing stored in a separate folder or filing cabinet in case it proved useful to whip it out again someday. 

All of it, deleted. Forever. All because of Christ's death on the cross---in our place. Debt canceled. 

This was God's way of dealing with what we had done to Him. And that is what He asks us to do with others' sins against us.

We of all people should appreciate the joy of forgiveness. . . by knowing what a treasure it is to be purely and perfectly forgiven.

. . .when we extend to others the forgiveness that Christ extended to us on the cross, we reflect the mercy and grace of God to a world that desperately needs to be forgiven.

When it comes to forgiveness, our Lord would not command us to do something that He would not enable us to do. Or that He hasn't done Himself.