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In every instance where forgiveness is at issue someone has to pay the price.

Please refer back the parable spoken by Jesus in Matthew 18
...There was a debt that was unpayable
...the debtor wasn’t even aware of how GREAT the debt he owed.

Even though the debt is monetary in the parable, the things owed were far greater than the money. Neither servant was ABLE to pay the debt. Additionally the further debts owed are implied...trust is damaged, relationship is damaged, fellowship is damaged. and SOMEONE has to pay the price for this damage.

In EVERY instance the one forgiving pays the real price. God forgives our sins because Jesus paid the price. We are not forgiven because we repented. By His stripes we are healed. He paid

Repent, as defined in the NT word is “to turn around in the opposite direction”. The repenting doesn’t forgive anything, or unlock forgiveness. Repenting is the change in attitude, perspective, or behavior. The one who forgives ALWAYS pays the price.

Forgiveness…
“The action of releasing another from the obligations, debt and damages they caused to you and choosing to never hold it against them again.”

CHOOSING to never bring it up to them never bring it up to others never bring it up to yourself. ...this is forgiveness.

We are forgiven because Jesus paid the price. Not because we repented (changed) ...not because we “confessed” (the Gk word means “to agree with”) Forgiveness is an action, not a feeling. ...maybe this is where the confusion lays.

A story... Someone I loved dearly severely violated my love and trust through infidelity. The personal damage was severe in many ways, including loss of friends, loss of family, loss of money, loss of trust. loss of ability to trust like this again.
To the casual observer, all she need to do was repent of her actions and then I could forgive her? Not so fast though…
She owes me a debt far and beyond what she will ever be aware of. She owes me a debt that she can never repay. The damages caused to me are simply beyond her comprehension. It is I who must pay this debt.
It is I who pay the full price she owes me, by choosing to release her from the debt she can’t even comprehend nor ever possibly repay, or ever “;make right” And I do pay this price. I pay it every time I choose to not mention it. (I sadly only mention it for your edification now) I pay it every time my trust wavers in another human, but chose to not hold her actions as the standard by which others are measured.

And now the rest of the story...
Matt 18:21-35 ends by telling us happens when wedon’t forgive...

”Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you”;
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 :;This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart”.

Notice who went to prison... The one who didn’t forgive.

The truth is that when we do not forgive, we are in a prison of self-torture and anger. All the while, the one who offended us roams free in the world, oblivious to the prison we are in and the torture we endure in our self-righteous anger.

Again, I pray you are blessed.