Forgiveness and cheating

Every once in a while you are put in a situation where you have to own up and ask for forgiveness for you mistakes, whether it is from God, your friend, parents, partner or yourself; we all have come across it once in a while. Sometimes we are bestowed the blessed position where we have to forgive and not ask for it. My high-school chemistry teacher taught me a very valuable lesson in that i.e. when you are in a position to forgive. He would always let us govern ourselves, making us accountable to ourselves and not be under the perception that we are accountable to others thereby maing us good citizens. One of the things he would say (and I am paraphrasing here), "If you cheat in your tests and own up to me then there is nothing I can do, because here you have just owned up to your own mistake which is a great and brave deed in itself so I can not punish you for that being braev and doing good. Do you see the situation I am put in? So do not hesitate to own up."

Pearls of wisdom I say those are and I think it is very important that we remember such words. He also said to us in regards to cheating, "You do not cheat me but you cheat yourself, because come the exam time it will show." I have always taken his advice to heart especially the one about owning up, because he is right, that in a society where people look to every opportunity to get away with things if one person stands up and admits to their faults and how their actions have affected others we should laud them although that doesn't mean they should go scot-free. There will be times where they will be allowed to walk away as was my teacher's policy but at other times when the damage is more extensive there must be some for of retribution and if that person is sincere about his apology they would not mind facing the guillotine.

About forgiveness, I also think that the person who is forgiving then must not base and judge their opinion of the other party on that one mistake by that I mean that just because they did something wrong you should not hold it against them otherwise your forgiveness would have been a mere act and not followed up with deed. Say if you thought highly of a person and they did something to hurt/harm you and you forgive them, then your forgiveness would be true if and only if you are able to think about that person the same way you thought about them before they carried out the misdeed. I think that is very important to follow up your words with your deeds. The person asking for forgiveness should be sincere enough to follow up their words with some suitable action or gesture because they have a responsibility to resume relations on the same level just as the person who is forgiving, in fact the person who is asking for forgiveness should take more of the responsibility in trying to resume relations at the same level.