“Just trust me.”
We’ve all heard those words before, and many of us know the pain that follows broken trust. Trust is more than just a feeling; it’s a commitment where your heart and head must be aligned. It’s bigger than ethics or honesty. It’s about motive, understanding, ability, character, and more. Words are fragile, and trust can be easily shattered.
In this series, Trust Issues, we dive deep into understanding the essence of trust, why we struggle with it, and how we can repair it when it’s broken. We’ll navigate the complexities of trust and learn how to rebuild and strengthen this vital component of our relationships.
Get the most out of today’s message!
We encourage you to jot down what you hear God speaking to you about today as you listen to the teaching. Plan on diving deeper into the message by downloading the study guide on Sunday night so you can compare your notes with the guide as a path for deeper spiritual commitment. Once posted, the teaching video and study guide can be found under the Media tab.
Week 3 Trust Issues
The Progression
1. In a relationship, something happens where trust is damaged or destroyed
2. Anger ~ Hurt
3. Two options
- Settle in to live in unhealthy woundedness
- Choose to forgive so I may heal
4. Live a new reality with healthy boundaries
Three Steps to Dealing with Damaged Trust
Step 1 = Connect with safe people and let them help
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. —NAS Hebrews 12:12–13
Connecting to the church… three different layers
1) Ekklesia = the called-out ones … THE Church… worldwide believers in Jesus Christ
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. —NIV Ephesians 1:22–23
2) Local communities of faith… the church
3) Small Groups within the greater faith community
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. —NIV Acts 20:20
It’s in small groups…
- Known
- Grow
- Pray
- Work out issues, seek guidance
- Cared for… encourage one another, spur one another
Step 2 = Make the decision to be free and healthy
Step 3 = Choose to forgive
Forgiveness is what frees us.
Forgiveness is the prerequisite for repair.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. —NLT Romans 5:8
The NT model for forgiveness… is to forgive the other person no matter what they are doing… so you can be finished with the transgression and move forward with steps toward healing and health…
Joseph was able to move forward and eventually reconcile… because he chose forgiveness… his firstborn son Manasseh
John 11… Jesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus
So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” —NLT John 11:41–44
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