John 17 and 18
Betrayal comes in different forms:
- Betrayal of confidential information
- Betrayal by not standing up for people you love
- Betrayal by abandonment
- Betrayal by hurtful words or deeds
There’s power in words
Proverbs 16:24: “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body”. NLT
Proverbs 15:1: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”. NIV
Proverbs 12:25: “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up”. NIV
Proverbs 18:4: “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters…” ESV
Proverbs 15:4: “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” NLT
Proverbs 25:11: “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.” NLT
There’s power in actions
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:26 NIV
“Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees.” John 18:2-3 (NIV)
“Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.” John 18:25-26
Helpful advice for when you’ve been betrayed:
1. Understand the grief cycle
2. Pick up your cross
“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.” John 19 (NIV)
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”” Matt 16:24 (NIV)
3. Don’t react in a way that you will regret later
4. Pray genuine prosperity and blessings on the one who hurt you
“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power ofyour name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:9-11 (NIV)
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:15-16 (NIV)
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” John 17:20 (NIV)