Love is displayed by forgiveness?

As I was sitting in church today, the pastor delivered a message about great expectations. This particular sermon was about love; it was entitled, Trusting In The Perfect Love Of God. God defines love. Love is derived from God. Love is destructive to fear. These were three among the four points made by Pastor Matey. The fourth was the one that got me thinking: love is displayed by forgiveness.

For me, that is such a loaded concept due, in large part, to my previously mentioned issues with forgiveness (refer to post with obvious title). The other thought this brings to mind is this: shouldn't love be displayed by never causing someone to need to forgive you? I know that must sound naive and unrealistic...so, let me rephrase: shouldn't we display love by doing everything in our power to prevent the need for forgiveness? Shouldn't we be striving for perfection with those we love and doing everything in our power not to hurt them or otherwise need them to forgive us? I know this is impossible. That was another point Pastor Matey made today...only God has the ability to practice perfect love. However, if love is displayed by forgiveness and I have a disability - which, I suspect is just a smidge short of an inability - with that skill, does that mean I have a compromised ability to love? I know there is more to this discussion than I actually have energy for at the moment...so I will leave it at this for tonight. However, this is certainly a topic I will pick up again as soon as possible.

"To err is human, to forgive divine." - Alexander Pope (1711)