God Notions

Psalm 55

For it is not an enemy who taunts me— 

then I could bear it; 

it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— 

then I could hide from him. 

 but it is you, a man, my equal, 

my companion, my familiar friend

The promise to love, honor, and cherish. The public acknowledgment of your value to a person, or maybe your employer. The trust, devotion, commitment, loyalty, and abandonment of self, whether it is an intimate relationship, friendship, work, or charity. The act of betrayal, whether planned or accidental, cuts one through the heart.

 Something changes that you just can’t put your finger on. Your inner light dims, the eye of your mind narrows, walls go up, and doors shut. A piece of who you are changes, perhaps dies. What grows back to take its place is anger, bitterness, isolation, and destruction of self and relationships.

All of us have experienced betrayal.

How do we deal with betrayal? How do we move past and heal? How do we become whole again?

I must look to Jesus for the answer. Was it the ultimate betrayal when his friend Judas sold Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver, or when Peter denied knowing him? How about when the crowd cried, “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!”, then a few short days later, cries for his crucifixion were on their lips.

Yes, Jesus is fully God, but He is also fully man. I am sure Jesus understands how we feel when betrayed. But, what did he do? WHEN Judas identified Jesus with a kiss, Jesus called him “friend.” He restored Peter and commissioned him to care for and lead His sheep. And before His last breath, Christ Jesus asked His Father to forgive us because we don’t know.

Forgiveness.

Forgiveness is hard because we want to be restored to our rightful place. Whether it is our place in a friendship, family, marriage, work., we want to be returned to our proper place we earned by being loyal, committed, thoughtful, obedient, trustworthy. Sometimes marriage is reconciled, friendships healed, a public apology. Othertimes, there will be no restoration, no admittance of wrongdoing, no acknowledgment of you, your hurt, or of the betrayal.

You don’t want the sadness, hurt, anger. Time passes, the scab turns to a scar, a reminder of the past, and if preserved, bitterness sets up in your heart. You want to be free from this cycle, but the ugliness of bitterness and unforgiveness has become comforting and your new friend. Until one day, you realize the anger and resentment have taken too much of your time. Precious time has been stolen from you that you will never get back. What is the answer?

Forgiveness. This kind of forgiveness takes the person or entity that hurt you out of the equation, and all that is left is you, alone, with Jesus. He sees you, your hurt, your anger, and your comfort with unforgiveness. He knows what has happened to you. He might even agree that what happened was unfair or unthinkable. But here you are, just the two of you, you and Jesus. His hand is open; if only you will place your hurt, anger, and sadness in His hand. Release the right to be angry and hurt. Allow Jesus to be the judge.

It doesn’t matter if “they,” who hurt you, are aware of your hurt. It doesn’t matter if “they” know you have given the matter over to Christ. You are giving the authority to reconcile the offense against you to Jesus. Do you know why this works? Because Jesus is the only person who has never failed. He has always been faithful, truthful, on time, and honest with us. We have all fallen short when it comes to life, relationships, work, marriage, children. Who can we compare ourselves to? No one. We can look to Christ Jesus as the standard of not only how to live but also how to forgive.

Romans 5

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He forgives us. Therefore, we must forgive each other, as Christ has forgiven us.