I tend to take it personally. I try not to let it ruin my life, but when someone betrays me, I feel like I must have done something to change their feelings for me, or else why would they have done that?
I don't know what I did, or didn't do, that caused that girl to stop being my friend. Even after all these years, I tried to reach out, but I got nothing.
All my friends didn't start magically being loyal after that, either. In just about every walk of my life, there's been that one person that I thought was my best friend, who later turned around and made it very clear she didn't want anything to do with me. In fact, it's happened so often, I feel like I could write a book about it.
Don't worry. This post is not that book.
So what's a girl to do? What's a person to do?
1. Mope
2. Get depressed
3. Ignore the pain and hope it goes away
4. Find a new friend and hope the cycle breaks
5. This list isn't helping matters any
What did Jesus do when he was betrayed? (Because, shouldn't this have been number one on that list???) Well, setting aside the fact that He died a few hours later, His attitude was a good one to model. If you're thinking, "Judas wasn't one of the few closest; His situation is different", don't forget that Peter also betrayed Jesus, and he was one of the few. Of course, Peter was sorry and told Jesus afterward that he loved Him, but I think even if he hadn't, Jesus would have done the same thing.
1. Realize they are human and make mistakes. Jesus knows we aren't perfect. We should strive to be as holy as we can, but He knows that until Heaven, total perfection isn't going to happen. Why should we expect it of anyone else?
2. Offer forgiveness. By helping Peter catch fish, then preparing dinner and having a one-on-one conversation with him, Jesus let Peter know that sins of the past would stay in the past. It doesn't do anyone any good to carry bitterness around. In fact, studies have shown that you can actually die if you stay bitter. I even know someone personally who did.
3. Go on with life. When Peter betrayed Jesus, Jesus didn't yell out from the cross--"No wait! I can't die now because my best friend betrayed me!" He just got another close friend to take care of his mom. And after He rose, He didn't treat Peter like dirt. I guess this is what my husband was talking about. Other people's actions and words shouldn't dictate your life. (I know, I know. Or my life. I'm working on it, okay?)
For those people who aren't sorry like Peter was, I guess we could LOOSELY compare them to Judas' betrayal. I am NOT calling anyone a Judas! But if you notice, Jesus didn't get all bent out of shape with Judas, either. I think when He said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do," He was including Judas in there, even though technically Judas was already dead.
We see that Jesus' response to Peter and Judas was the same. And so should our response be, to people like Peter and Judas. This study actually brought up some other questions in my mind, so now I need to go study them out. Thanks, folks, for being a good sounding board for me.