If you have ever been betrayed, you are in good company. Jesus was betrayed. Paul was betrayed. Betrayal by a f riend, spouse, or a member of your church is very painful. It is not the betrayal but how you react to it that counts, however. Your response to betrayal can affect your health because anger, bitterness, depression, and unforgiveness can eat away at your body and emotions, releasing stress hormones and weakening your immune system. What should you do if you have been betrayed?
Notice Paul’s response to betrayal in Second Timothy 4:16-18:
At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
Paul is a model of how to respond to betrayal. He did not let the effects of betrayal cling to him. What did he do? First, he prayed for those who had betrayed him (verse 16). This implies that he forgave them. Second, he relied on God instead of man and declared his faith in Him to deliver him ‘from every evil work” (verse 18). In effect, he put the negative situation behind him.
Jesus tells us, ‘And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25). Unforgiveness keeps both you and the person who betrayed you in bondage. Forgiveness looses both of you. “…Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).
Prayer for Betrayal:
Father, I forgive __________ for betraying me and I ask You to separate that sin from and put it on the cross of Jesus, never to be held against again, in Jesus’ name. And Father, please forgive me of anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness toward ___________ . Put my sin on the cross, never to be held against me again. In the name of Jesus, I command the spirits of anger, bitterness, and rejection to leave me and I break their power over me. Thank You, Jesus, for Your promise, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So II] may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6).
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