Is Everyone Worthy of Forgiveness?

Forgiveness is an act of letting go, an act that brings about peace, an opportunity to rebuild, and much more. Forgiving is always advised; it's morally and religiously encouraged because it's an act that gives room for love to thrive. However, there are some offenses done against them that feel like outright evil or something not worth letting go, and so for that reason many tend to embrace the bad things people have done to them so they won't forget and will be wary of the evil or bad acts such individuals are capable of. Am I one of those people who can decide to not forgive someone else because of the weight of their actions against me? If so, what could possibly be their offense? Have I ever had it in mind to never forgive someone? Am I still holding onto that vow, or have I let it slide and forgiven such an individual? Below I'd respond to all those questions and several other related ones.

So to start with, is everyone worthy of forgiveness? To be honest I want to say yes, but then I must come to a reasonable point of view and say that not everyone deserves to get forgiven for their bad act. Yes, I know even as a Christian that I'm supposed to. The Bible encourages us to forgive everyone that offends us; it even goes further to inspire us to pray for our enemies, although that comes with a twist, stating that our prayers for our enemies would be like a hot coal being placed on their head. But then, even though I don't want to be controversial, I must state that even the Bible, which encourages us to forgive those who offend us, didn't forgive the devil, and that's to show that there are some people whose offense must have gone beyond the forgiveness threshold, and in such situations, we can decide to not forgive such people.

I mean, would you want me or other Nigerians to forgive bandits, terrorists, and the like who put our nation on the edge, killing people, kidnapping, and collecting ransom, among many others? You'll know they don't deserve forgiveness. Even if you think they deserve forgiveness, I'd like to tell you that you're saying that because you or your loved ones have never fallen victim to their atrocities, because if you had, you'd know how dark their hearts are and the danger forgiving them will bring to the nation and the people therein.

Have I ever said I won't forgive someone before? Yes, I've actually said that, and it was towards my ex, who broke my heart and disappointed me due to cheating a few months before we tied the knot; it was a very devastating situation to be in, and out of anger, I uttered that statement. However, fast forward to the present day; that's no longer the case because I've forgiven her, and we speak like friends once in a while, although not as we used to in the past.

One of the reasons why I forgave and had to let things slide was for my own peace. I came to realize that the more I refused to forgive her, the more I kept having her actions repeat themselves in my head for years, and seeing how that was affecting my mental health, I had to reach a very hard conclusion that I needed to forgive her so I could let go of that and move on for my own mental health, peace, and opportunity to chase new dreams and aspirations without being tied down by the past and being unable to move on.

All photos are mine.