I remember years ago, when I was a
young man, I was engaged to be married,
and the girl I was engaged to wanted
a very expensive engagement ring that wiped out
my entire savings, but we were in love,
or so I thought, until she cheated on
me with another man.
Well, our engagement was called off, and to
top it all off, I lost half the
money I spent on that overpriced engagement ring,
because the jeweler would only take it back
on consignment, for half the price he sold
it to me.
I not only got burned by love, I
lost money on the deal.
The day we broke up, I laid in
bed and cried all day.
It was devastating when someone you trust cheats
on you.
It's a feeling of betrayal like no other.
It took me a long time before I
could forgive that person, but that's what we
need to do.
When you harbor resentment and bitterness towards another,
it'll only eat away at you and make
you more miserable.
You have to eventually let it go and
forgive them.
You may not ever trust them again, but
you have to forgive them.
As Christians, we are commanded to forgive those
who have wounded us, Ephesians 4.32 declares,
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven you.
And in Matthew 6.14, it states, for
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you.
But what about the pain that remains, feeling
like you've been kicked in the gut by
being cheated on?
What do you do with the knife in
your heart?
In a marriage where a spouse has been
unfaithful, there's ruin and wreckage and often divorce.
What do you do with the hurt that
feels like a great cement weight hanging around
your neck?
What about depression, anger, resentment?
All you can do is carry your hurting
heart to Jesus.
He knows what it's like to be forsaken
by men and experience betrayal by a friend
who sold him out for 30 pieces of
silver.
I had a friend of my wife's whose
husband was unfaithful to her, and the first
thing we did was invite her over to
our house with some other Christian friends to
comfort her and pray for her.
We sat in a circle, and each of
us prayed for God's healing hand to be
upon her family, especially the children who were
emotionally wounded by their dad's infidelity.
When a spouse cheats, everyone suffers, and it's
a time for the family of God to
be there to put their arms around them
and do things like bringing meals or mowing
the lawn.
Do what you can to show the love
of Jesus and let them know they are
not alone in this, but the key is
not to allow resentment to turn into bitterness
and unforgiveness.
You have to let it go and give
it to God, but there's still wounded feelings
and a broken heart that's raw with emotions.
Jesus knows your hurting heart.
Jesus knows the pain you are going through.
That expression, time heals all wounds, isn't necessarily
true.
Only Jesus can bring healing to a hurting
heart.
I have a little chihuahua dog, and she
likes to climb up in my lap.
She feels safe there.
She feels loved there when I'm hurting, when
the world is pressing me down.
I climb up in the lap of Jesus,
if I may so speak, and I rest
securely in His arms.
He can comfort the broken-hearted.
He can heal the wounds that are still
raw.
When you can barely hang on today, He
can give you hope for tomorrow.
Jesus says, come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of
me, for I am meek and lowly and
hard, and ye shall find rest unto your
souls, for my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.
A farmer once shared with me that when
two oxen are under a yoke, it is
the stronger of the two that carries the
heavier part of the load.
The load that you carry, friend, may be
too heavy for you, but Jesus will take
the harder part and carry it for you
if you give it to Him.