Your spouse has cheated. Call it an addiction or a disease. Either way, it was a choice. And he cheated. Now you are hearing it from all directions.
“As a Christian, you need to forgive him.”
Forgiveness may be the most misunderstood aspect of recovery. Let’s talk about what forgiveness is not. Here are five myths about forgiveness.
- You have not really forgiven until you forget.
- To forgive someone means you must trust him again.
- When you forgive someone, he no longer needs to make amends for what he has done.
- Forgiveness means you can move forward as if nothing happened.
- Forgiveness is a license to be betrayed again.
Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Notice, this forgiveness was not dependent on an apology or life change on the part of the offenders.
Recovery Step: You need to forgive the one who has hurt you the most. If you can’t do it for them, do it for yourself.
