We should not hold people to their “mistakes” of the past if they have changed or are showing signs that they are willing to change for the better. We too would not like others to hold us to our “mistakes” if we have grown and move on from the state that we were in at the time of the “mistake”. In other words, allow others the space to change for the better and try to understand them from their current, changed state and not from their previous state. Doing so also shows growth on our end. See the post on “Emotional Maturity” for more on this.