How to Forgive Someone Who Never Said Sorry
Healing when the apology never came
There’s a certain kind of pain that lingers—
not because of what happened,
but because the person who hurt you walked away like nothing did.
No accountability.
No conversation.
No apology.
Just silence.
And you’re left standing in the wreckage
trying to make peace with something that was never made right.
Understand this:
You can’t wait for someone else’s apology to start your healing.
1. Don’t hold your freedom hostage to someone else’s denial
Some people will never admit what they did.
Not because it wasn’t wrong—
but because they don’t have the courage to face it.
And that’s hard.
It’s hard to feel pain you didn’t cause and still be the one left holding the responsibility to release it.
But the longer you wait for someone to say sorry,
the longer you delay your own peace.
You don’t need their words to be whole.
2. Grieve what you didn’t get
Forgiveness isn’t a shortcut.
It’s a process.
And part of that process is letting yourself grieve what never came:
The explanation you deserved
The honesty you hoped for
The version of them you thought they were
You’re allowed to mourn the apology that never arrived.
You’re allowed to feel the weight of that absence.
Just don’t let it become your identity.
3. Forgiveness ≠ reconciliation
This needs to be said:
You can forgive someone and never let them close again.
You can forgive and still keep boundaries.
You can forgive and still say, "You don’t have access to me anymore."
Forgiveness is not about pretending nothing happened.
It’s about refusing to carry what isn’t yours anymore.
4. Rewrite the story they never finished
When someone leaves without taking accountability,
they leave you with a blank page.
But here’s where your power kicks in:
You get to write the ending.
You get to tell yourself:
I didn’t deserve that.
Their silence doesn’t define my worth.
I forgive—not because they asked, but because I’m choosing peace.
You don't need closure from them when you've decided to close the door yourself.
5. Release them, and return to yourself
Forgiveness is not about weakness.
It’s about wisdom.
It’s knowing that holding on to resentment won’t hurt them—it’ll only harden you.
It’s choosing to stop rehearsing the betrayal
and start rebuilding the parts of you that were affected by it.
You may never get the apology.
And that will always feel unfair.
But fairness isn't healing.
Freedom is.
You are allowed to let go.
You are allowed to stop waiting.
You are allowed to heal in the absence of “I’m sorry.”
Forgiveness is the gift you give yourself
when you’re ready to be free—
with or without the closure.
If this spoke to something in you—
and you’re in a season where you’re tired of carrying what hurt you,
but you’re not quite sure how to let it go...
My book Poor Me to Soul Rich was written for this exact moment.
Not just about healing from the past,
but about reclaiming your peace, your voice, and your power—for good.
You can check it out here