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Introduction:

Going through any type of betrayal is painful and sends a shock to our system. It is an especially deep wound when we are betrayed by someone, we believed we could trust. It's hard to imagine an evil so great that someone would intentionally cause another person pain. Many of us inflict pain on each other out of ignorant self-protection but it is truly cruel when someone inflicts pain to purposely injure another. Even more evil is when someone inflicts pain on another for personal self-gratification. It seems like pain in the church can get easily overlooked, possibly because there is an expectation to forgive and move on.

One of the most shocking statements that Jesus said as he was being betrayed was "Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34 NIV) While Jesus in His mercy understood that those who put Him on the cross didn't understand that they were crucifying God, it didn't make it any less painful. Luke 22 shares that Jesus was in so much anguish before He was crucified that as He was praying His sweat was like drops of blood. God recognized Jesus's anguish and sent an angel to comfort Him and strengthen Him to move forward. How beautiful that Jesus shared in understanding our pain and also understanding the need to forgive at the same time. While forgiveness is a command in scripture it is not based on an emotion. It's also important that we realize that forgiveness does not require that we trust or move back into the relationship. We can forgive and still set boundaries. As we work through the process of forgiving betrayal, we acknowledge the pain that was caused and use wisdom to evaluate whether those relationships are healthy enough to continue.

During this session, we are going to work on healing betrayal, by acknowledging the wrongs that were done to us and offering forgiveness to our offenders. This is an opportunity to #1 Get real and honest about what is in your heart. #2 Be vulnerable with God about your pain #3 Identify any connection to a similar pain you felt in your past. #4 Identify any stories or beliefs you created based on your pain. We tend to create a story or belief system surrounding our emotions, trauma, or past events in our lives. It is an expectation that something will negative will happen because of a traumatic or disappointing event.