Other people can do things that hurt us and cause us to feel angry at them.  When other people hurt us, we may feel like hurting them back. Herby pretends he is a knight on a quest to slay a dragon—er, the neighborhood cat—who often pounces on him and causes him much trouble.

When someone hurts you or does something that makes you mad, do you ever feel like treating them badly or staying angry with them? What would happen if you forgave them instead? Have you ever done something wrong and needed other people to forgive you?

Forgiving others doesn’t mean that what they did was right and that you shouldn’t protect yourself from being harmed. But it does mean that you choose not to stay mad at them or hate them, and that you stop punishing or hurting them in return. When we don’t forgive, we only make things worse—mostly for ourselves! Those feelings can control us and keep us from enjoying life. Forgive other people who hurt you, just like you need other people to forgive you when you do wrong things, and you won’t look at them as “foul beasts” to be slayed.