Forgiveness

A pastor once said "until you realize you are capable of something, you cannot forgive it." The quote strikes at the heart of our inherent arrogance. Ever notice how we are much more understanding and forgiving of ourselves than others? If someone is upset at me for something I said about them, well then they have blown what I said way out of proportion. However, if a person slanders me behind my back than there better be some serious repentance (and perhaps buy me a couple of dinners) before I think about forgiving them.
Or maybe another way to put it would be: we conveniently minimize our own sinful nature, and minimize our own capacity to sin. This enables us to feel better about ourselves than others. Perhaps this is one of the reasons God speaks so harshly against it. Proverbs 6:16-17 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: Haughty eyes...
God detests haughty eyes because prideful eyes only come from having a false perception of myself. And when I minimize my own sinfulness, I have minimized Christ's love. My understanding of Christ's love is directly proportional to the understanding of my own sinfulness/helplessness before the throne of God. For example, i sure will love someone who pays off my house loan more than someone who buys me dinner.
All that to say, we are more forgiving when we realize how much we've been forgiven. We're more forgiving when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our own capacities to sin. Then instead of looking at others with our arms crossed wondering how they could do such a thing. We look at others and see our own sinful capacities in them, and praise God for his saving Grace in our own lives.