Beyond Betrayal: Overcome Past Hurts and Begin to Trust Again

Responding Right When You've Been Wronged We all know what it?s like to be lied to, cheated, tricked, or swindled. Whether you want revenge or to protect yourself from future harm, Phil Waldrep understands your pain. Waldrep had no idea of the steep journey that lay ahead of him when two men walked into his office and revealed an unfolding story of a friend turned colleague who was living what amounted to a second life.  For years following, Waldrep sought to heal the wounds of this broken relationship and confront the pain he felt in the aftermath of this betrayal. Along the way, he discovered God?s solutions to overcoming resentment. In Beyond Betrayal, you?ll learn about the biblical principles and practical tools that can help you identify betrayers in your life and name the pain you feelrediscover God as the healer of your woundsavoid bitterness and express your anger in healthy wayslearn to remain open to trusting others again as you build new relationshipschoose forgiveness and develop strategies to prevent future betrayal Whether you?ve been hurt by a family member, friend, colleague, or trusted leader, you are not alone. Even Jesus was betrayed. You don?t have to let past hurts limit your future relationships-you can move beyond betrayal.       Review ?Taken from Beyond Betrayal. 2020 Phil Waldrep. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR 97408Foreword by Ann VoskampYou have to know how I mean it:I am sorry.I am sorry for the pain that?s been burning a searing hole out the side of your heart, that?s scorched your days and profaned your moments with the lingering stench of betrayal.I am sorry your trust wasn?t prized-and a hard-won bit of you was painfully lost.I am sorry for what now is, that should never have been. You didn?t sign up for this.You didn?t sign up to have your trust torched, your kindness kindled into flame, your security to go up in smoke. You didn?t sign up to be duped and deluded, used and abused, and you didn?t for one moment expect anyone to play Judas and play false with the story of your life.They got what they wanted, and you got shafted in ways you never planned. They got the upper hand, and you got taken advantage of. They got what wasn?t theirs, and you got what you never wanted.Sometimes: The gravest wrong isn?t how they betrayed you, but how you ever trusted them.Sometimes: Betrayal feels like holding hands with what twisted into a trap that chewed up and spit out part of your heart. Sometimes: An enemy?s frontal assault hurts less than the backstabbing of a friend.And now, you?re desperate for a sign that points the way out of this mess.This moment, these hopeful pages, the transparent story you will find in these life-transforming pages, is a sign from God for you, a roadmap out of where you never expected to be.You get to choose to trust others again, you get to choose to forgive, you get to choose the bravest story. You get to rise courageously because: Forgiveness only happens where a death has happened.Forgiveness only happens where hope has died, expectations have died, plans have died, reputation has died, fairness has died, dreams have died.You get to be brave in the face of betrayal and choose: If you don?t die to something so you can forgive someone, it?s your own quality of life and very soul that begins to die.There is never any forgiveness without someone getting to pay for it. There is no forgiveness without demanding the cost or paying the cost.That is always the choice you make every day when you look in the mirror: Either I can pay for the wrong, or I can try to make the betrayer pay for it.There is always the choice: I can pay the price-and die to my anger. I can pay the price-and die to my revenge. I can pay the price-and die to my desire to get even and give even the betrayer the grace even I have been given.There is never any forgiveness without someone giving up something to pay for it. There is no forgiveness without demand