Trust After An Affair - The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional

Trust after an Affair

The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.

Proverbs 20:7

HOW DO YOU REBUILD TRUST after an affair? One wife told me, “I’m willing to forgive my husband, but I don’t know if I can ever trust him again.” She was being honest. Forgiveness does not restore trust. Forgiveness is the decision to lift the penalty, restore the offender, and let him or her back into your life, but it does not immediately restore trust. If you had an affair, you broke the marriage covenant of fidelity. You destroyed trust in the heart of your spouse, and now only you can restore that trust.

Trust grows when you are trustworthy, so don’t lie to your spouse. When you say you are going to do something, do it. If you promise to break off all contact with your former lover, do it—right down to the briefest e-mail or phone call. When you say you are going to see a friend, be sure that is where you go. Encourage your spouse to call and check up on you. Every time you prove that you are trustworthy, your spouse’s trust grows. But if you continue to be deceptive, trust will never recover.

Ask God to make you a person of character and integrity, as Proverbs 20:7 mentions. Keep yourself completely above reproach; avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing (see 1 Thessalonians 5:22, KJV). That is the fastest way to restore trust in the heart of your spouse.

Father, only you can restore trust in a broken relationship. I pray for your healing, your grace, and your restoration in our marriage for both large and small violations of each other’s trust. Make us both willing to take the necessary steps.

Infidelity