St. Clement of Alexandria said: “For the sake of each of us He laid down His life, worth no less than the universe. He demands of us in return our lives for the sake of each other.”

In theory we can assent to this. But in practice we may have a hard time doing it. Jesus has commanded us to forgive those who have hurt us. That is laying down our life for the other. Jesus did this when we were enemies, alienated from God because of sin. At the moment that we refuse to forgive the other, we are treating them as enemies. Jesus suffered the death on the cross to reconcile us. He is asking us to do far less in forgiving the other. Remember the consequence of not forgiving. "If you do not forgive the other, your Heavenly Father will do the same for you." Are we willing to risk our eternal life because of our pride and anger, our hardened heart against another? If so, we are following, not the voice of God, but the voice of one who desires our eternal separation from God.