Forgiving a specific wrong reduces the stress and hostility that stems from an unresolved hurt, but becoming a truly forgiving husband or wife creates a marriage that surpasses what you ever hoped it would be. When you decide to really forgive your partner, you create an opening into a deep and sustaining love. Experiencing and giving that deep love is what we all crave when we enter into a relationship. That love is what we deny ourselves when we spend our lives criticizing our lovers and complaining about all the ways in which they do not measure up to our standards….
Love is what happens when you stop creating stress by arguing about the imperfections of the person you married. That does not mean you like everything your spouse does or that you don’t talk to your spouse about things. You are still going to have specific problems that require forgiveness, but thankfully those will be rare. Forgiveness allows the love to flourish and to not be corroded by your resentments and complaints.
— Dr. Fred Luskin, Forgive for Love, p. 51-52