From time to time a person is faced with strong shocks that knock the ground out from under his feet and leave him speechless. Betrayal by loved ones causes many painful feelings that one wants to get rid of, but often a person does not know how. Usually the first reaction is to respond to resentment or revenge.
But later, when the passions subside and the thoughts in the head are no longer confused, the person stops thinking about revenge and asks the only question “how to forgive betrayal?” By betrayal, each person means something individual.
Be that as it may, only close people who did not live up to our hopes, who set us up in difficult times, who hurt us mentally, are considered traitors.
How to identify a traitor?
Few people thought that betrayal could be prevented at the stage of flirtation or romance. The main thing is not to miss obvious signals. No matter how hard a man tries, he will not be able to hide this from you. First of all, the ability to betray is manifested in behavior and attitude towards you. The person begins to withdraw, then frequent problems or business trips at work will appear. Once you notice this in your man, do not be afraid to admit to yourself that he may have betrayed you.
Psychologist's advice
The betrayal of a loved one is always a terrible shock for the other half. Psychologists and specialists in the field of family relationships always advise couples to discuss the current situation together so that the couple receives objective answers to questions about the future.
Psychologists have many techniques that can be used to solve any problems that arise in a couple’s family life.
Before deciding to forgive infidelity, it is always necessary to establish the true reason for such behavior.
How does a person cope with betrayal?
For every person, treachery is very painful. Especially the betrayal of what seemed like a dear person. And this pain cannot be cured with pills or anything else.
Betrayal is a kind of stab in the back. Such an act causes pain and grief in a person. It can take different forms. The traitor can be a loved one, a close friend, or simply a work colleague or business partner. A treacherous act destroys human hopes and trust, breaks a person to smithereens. Some people, having experienced betrayal, hide from the whole world, go somewhere to hide this fact, especially if it concerns their personal life.
If such behavior came from a loved one, the victim will most often be ashamed of publicity in order to avoid shame. But you don’t need to do this, it’s not your fault that the person betrayed you. The injured party does not even think that if he hides what happened, he will be left without support. If a person avoids talking about this topic, he will experience loneliness and alienation. If the victim of betrayal does not share it with someone, then he will think about it all the time and blame himself, and begin to wonder what he did wrong.
First steps to forgiveness
Negative emotions have a very strong impact on the person experiencing them. He literally loses his ability to reason sensibly and make adequate decisions. All his thoughts at this moment are directed towards revenge, so that the traitor feels all the same pain and suffering that he caused. But this manifests itself in hundreds of phone calls, threats, tears, hysteria, and so on...
This will not improve the situation; you will still feel betrayed. Now you need to calm down, splashing out all the negative emotions, and under no circumstances suppress them within yourself.
Once emotional balance is achieved, the problem may not seem so significant. Follow the following recommendations to be able to forgive the traitor.
- You need to endure the pain;
- Completely forgive the offender;
- Let go of the situation;
- Think about your own life and desires;
- Analyze the situation and change your view of it.
At first glance, it couldn’t be simpler, but in reality, it is a Herculean task to fulfill these requirements.
Forgiving the weaknesses of other people is a useful skill, because thanks to it, you will learn to understand the thoughts and motives of a person and this understanding will help you accept what happened and survive it.
There are situations when there is no need to forgive at all. This is when the traitor himself does not want forgiveness or understanding. In this case, let this person go in all 4 directions and live your life with the intention of meeting a more worthy life partner or companion.
How to heal after betrayal and regain your former confidence and faith in people?
People faced with such a situation are often interested in how to survive the betrayal of a husband, wife or loved one. You should pay attention to the following expert advice.
- Talk about your feelings and experiences to a person you trust. He will listen to you and support you. There is no need to hide from people, it is important to share with people who value you and will support you.
- Take care of yourself. You need to keep yourself in shape both emotionally and physically. Play sports, start eating right if you haven’t done this before, start loving yourself more than you previously loved.
- Allow yourself to rethink everything. Think carefully about what happened, don't blame yourself! Remember why you maintained a relationship with this or that person, what your hopes were for him.
- Give free rein to your emotions and tears. Don't pretend nothing happened. Cry, let all the negativity out. Be a weak woman.
- Don't drown your grief in alcohol. This method has not yet solved a single problem. In addition, drinking too much can only add problems or unnecessary adventures to yourself.
- Keep yourself busy with something useful. Throw yourself into your work. Sign up for some interesting courses. Plan your time so that you don’t have the opportunity to think about bad things. Take a walk in nature.
- Transform yourself. Get a new hairstyle, dye your hair some other color that you may have liked before, but couldn’t decide. Buy a beautiful bright dress, because shopping helps improve a woman’s mood.
- Don't become something you are not. There is no need to punish other people who are not to blame for anything. Don't be a bitch just because you were hurt. Negative messages should be directed only at the person who caused the worries.
- We need to maintain kindness and humanity. Help someone who is in misfortune and needs your support and help. By helping this person, you will forget about your worries. Even for a moment, you will still forget.
The most important thing is not to lose faith in yourself and in people who have never done anything bad to you. You need to try to find time to talk about something good and positive. The recovery period after betrayal is long, so first of all you should not forget to love yourself.
Understand what it means to forgive betrayal
Understanding how to forgive betrayal means knowing yourself and understanding others.
Learning to free yourself from resentment means knowing yourself, knowing your psyche, realizing your desires, life values and priorities. Learn to understand the causes of resentment. What is realized disappears. It's like the sun rises at dawn - a ray illuminates the sky and the darkness of the night disappears.
As soon as a person realizes that no one is planning betrayal, no one wants to offend him, that it is he himself who is offended, and when he begins to understand that offense and betrayal are simply his personal perception of reality, the offenses are released.
People with developed and realized qualities of the anal vector experience the opposite feeling of resentment - they experience a feeling of deep gratitude. This takes their quality of life to another level and fills their lives with joy in interacting with other people.
System-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan turns grievances into gratitude and reveals the essence of the question of how to learn to forgive.
Numerous results of people who learned to free themselves from feelings of resentment and were able to forgive betrayal confirm this.
You can begin your path to liberation from the burden of grievances and betrayal, to a new happy life already at the free online training on system-vector psychology by Yuri Burlan. Don't hold grudges - register here and now.
Author Galina Kuzmenko
The article was written using materials from Yuri Burlan’s online training “System-vector psychology”
Why do people betray?
You cannot justify treason or betrayal. Even when a person throws empty accusations at you, you don’t need to listen, much less perceive it. Maybe you were wrong in some ways, because we are all imperfect, but you didn’t force the person to do that. After all, it would be possible to do without betrayal, for example, discuss the problems that have arisen between you, take a break in the relationship, in the end, but not change in any way.
Why did the person betray? Yes, simply because it was only in his interests, but not in yours. “I” dominated in his head at that moment. Everyone will be guilty except him, so don't believe that he is innocent. Guilty! Still so guilty! After all, he committed this act towards you. And before you forgive, you need to think carefully.
Understand why the other one is offending
Our psyche is our desires. A person can do something only if he wants to do it. Desires control our lives. And there is nothing stronger than them. People cannot control their desires, since the psyche is incommensurably larger than consciousness. And the smaller cannot control the larger.
If a person’s desires are not fulfilled, he experiences frustrations—painful conditions. If desires are not fulfilled for a long time, then a person may experience such tension that, in order to satisfy his desire, he can violate all the restrictions of society - both the rules of cultural behavior and the law.
Such is the power of human desires given to a person at birth to preserve himself and all people. It is important to learn to realize that each person expresses only his innate desires and none of the eight vectors contains the property of offending another or committing betrayal.
People do not offend - they realize themselves in accordance with their innate properties and life values, which may not coincide with the values of others. And the development of a chain of events that leads to the emergence of grievances and the feeling that “anyone can betray” is based only on ignorance of the psyche - both one’s own and other people.
Should betrayal be forgiven?
Should betrayal be forgiven? This is everyone's business. But you must forgive, first of all, for your own sake. Because the thoughts will not go away, and your life will turn into constant experiences. These thoughts will prevent you from building a new relationship with another person who may never deceive you. You need, despite the pain that the person has caused you, to forgive him and let him go. Forgive in order to simply live and enjoy every day.
Surviving betrayal is very difficult. For this to happen, you don’t need to think about it all the time and torment yourself; it’s better to think about the new life that awaits you ahead. A bad experience is also an experience.
Forgiveness for profit
Many people turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of loved ones, caring for their own benefit. This can be both the material side of the issue and the moral one.
It is important to understand the difference between forgiveness and honest acceptance of the situation.
In the first case, the person willy-nilly will return to what happened, in the second case, he will never remember it, considering it a passed stage of life.
How does a person who has been betrayed feel?
A person who has experienced betrayal goes through several stages.
- Stage of severe and acute pain. At this stage, you do not yet fully understand what happened to you, but you understand that you have been betrayed. Life became dark and meaningless. There is pain and resentment hidden in your soul. You don't want to communicate with anyone. You need to be alone and digest everything that happened.
- The stage of resentment. You hold a great grudge against the person who betrayed you; your state is on a par with hatred. If you previously wished the person all the best, now you are demonstrating the opposite reaction.
- Stage of humility. At this point, you have realized what happened and may be willing to forgive the offender if you think he deserves another chance. Well, if he is not worthy of a second chance, then you need to prepare yourself for the fact that this person will never be in your life.
- Stage of indifference. If you have never been able to forgive a person, your feelings will fade and gradually disappear. And your emotional and mental state will be restored.
Most importantly, remember that you cannot return the past. There is no need to think about what would have happened if the situation had turned out differently. What happened happened.
Life lessons
They say that a person is destined for as many trials as he can withstand. Any difficulty can reveal a person’s inner reserves, which he was not previously aware of. It is important to take problems as lessons, not as punishments.
How many people there are, so many options for overcoming problems. Some forgive and forget about what happened, while others cast aside all fears and enjoy life, not letting people who cause mistrust come close.
To sincerely forgive, you need to work on your attitudes. Is it necessary to forgive a traitor? You should not rely on the advice of famous publications, friends and relatives in this matter. This is your life and you have the right to manage it as you wish.
Not all people tolerate betrayal and treason the same way.
Women who are faithful to their husbands experience very deep suffering. They carefully preserve the hearth and comfort. Good wives and caring mothers - for them, family relationships and family always come first.
We are not taught, either at school or in institutions, how to live and how to build emotional and trusting relationships. When we get married, we live as if according to a script, seeing before our eyes the unsuccessful marriages of our friends or our parents. Minor quarrels and grievances begin, which are resolved in bed, as they say: “Darlings scold - they just amuse themselves.” But years pass, and if you don’t have emotional intimacy, then bed doesn’t solve anything and the relationship fades away.
Spouses are moving away from each other, showing more and more claims, irritation, and misunderstandings. What you previously liked about your loved one now irritates you. Most often, people stay together out of habit and a sense of duty to their children. Tension increases, and the man begins to look for another woman who will support him, listen and understand. Who will simply love him without any reproaches. At the same time, he does not worry that he betrayed his wife; for him this is something new, a change of sensations.
Find out who can be offended: after all, this is given only to a select few
The feeling of being betrayed is born of resentment. Resentment is not a category of consciousness. Resentment is much deeper and more powerful: it is a manifestation of the psyche. Resentment is a strong suffering of the soul. The only thing stronger than this suffering can be a state of depression.
A person is not aware of this feeling, it passes by his awareness. A person can live his whole life and not even realize that he is experiencing a feeling of resentment. It's just hard for him to live. It's hard to breathe, it's hard to carry your body.
Not every person can experience this feeling - resentment. Such feelings can only be experienced by people who have an anal vector, according to the definition of System-Vector Psychology by Yuri Burlan.
Resentment manifests itself in these people in certain states. When, due to various life situations, they do not receive the proper development of their innate properties or do not have the opportunity to realize their abilities in life.
At birth, they are given properties, with the development of which they become the most faithful husbands/wives, the best dads/mothers. For them, nothing in life is more important than loyalty and devotion, truth and justice, respect and honor. There is nothing more important than friendship, more important than home, family, wife/husband and children. They are homebodies - it is difficult for them to go out on a visit, to the theater, go to a resort or travel.
Does age play a role?
It’s one thing when a person betrays you in your youth, it’s another when you’re 40 years old. Life has already settled down and seems reliable. But it is not over, but on the contrary, it is in full swing. Of course, betrayal brings pain at any age, but at 40 a person already has life experience and wisdom, manages his problems and difficulties. At this age, there are probably already children whose support will not let you fall to your knees.
If you were betrayed by a person at the age of 50, then all that remains is to forget him and let him go, because you have already lived half your life, you are already a philosopher in this area. A woman at this age still attracts men with her beauty and wisdom, especially if, despite her age, she takes care of herself, dresses well, puts on makeup and does her hair. Perhaps right now there will be a desire to go on a trip, or learn a language, or enroll in some interesting courses. The children have already grown up, you are free and independent, so you need not to miss this moment, you need to start living for yourself.
Why will a woman cheat?
A woman can cheat for the same reasons as a man. This happens often, but we will outline the features of female infidelity. By the way, according to sociological surveys, it turns out that male infidelity is more common than female infidelity. However, women themselves are not always ready to answer honestly about the topic of their personal lives, even if we are talking about anonymous research.
- The man doesn't pay attention
The reason for female infidelity is misunderstanding and lost attention on the part of a life partner. Situations can be completely different, but their endings are the same. Here are a few possible scenarios. If you recognize yourself, immediately start looking for a way out. Otherwise, the relationship in your couple may come to naught in the near foreseeable future.
The first case is when a man becomes a workaholic. Perhaps he does not realize that he could lose his beloved. Very often the head of the family decides to go in pursuit of wealth. But a woman just wants family happiness, heart-to-heart conversations. After some time, she is quite capable of cheating.
Is it worth forgiving betrayal if the lady of your heart was abandoned and forgotten by you? For a man, forgiveness is not an easy process. Women are caught much less often, because their actions are more planned and thought out. If the spouse also feels guilty about the situation that happened, then you can try to work on the mistakes. Often the family is saved, and the relationship returns to a period of love and passion.
The second variation of female infidelity due to lack of attention will be more mercantile. Unfortunately, this variety has become increasingly common. This is quite strange, because now there is a surge in the feminist movement. Apparently, in contrast to this, there are more women who like to live off men.
So, you might have fallen in love with a charming beauty. Your relationship has long grown into “serious” status. Maybe you're even married. And then it turns out that the missus lives a real double life. Let's say her middle name is escort.
A mademoiselle with a similar status earns money by meeting wealthy gentlemen. Moreover, very often they have permanent relationships with fairly simple guys without much material wealth.
How to recognize such a corrupt lady of your heart? Take a closer look at her purchases. Escort girls accept expensive gifts from men with special pleasure. Many young people today subscribe to Telegram channels exposing the moths of the twenty-first century.
Is it worth forgiving betrayal if it developed according to the second scenario? In response to your questions, the lady will lie that she was involved in dirty deeds solely for the benefit of your relationship. She will say that you did not give attention or expensive gifts, but she would really like that. Don't forgive. This category of women is difficult to change their usual lifestyle. And it will be extremely difficult to regain trust.
- Curious Barabara
A woman is naturally curious and inquisitive. She has a special colorful imagination. This directly affects the attitude of many representatives of the fair sex to the sexual aspect of relationships in a couple.
It is common to think that women are more reserved and unpretentious in matters of intimacy. In reality, everything very much depends on her libido and sexual temperament.
Sometimes it happens that a married lady commits adultery solely out of curiosity. That is, she is not particularly interested in the character with whom she decided to sin on the side. Experience and sensations are much more important.
What to do with relationships?
Can there be any kind of relationship after betrayal? Of course, not everyone breaks up right away; some try to do something, patch things together, improve relationships. But think about it, is it necessary to do this? After all, if a person betrayed once, he will most likely betray again. Therefore, you need to “put all your memories and feelings in a box” and throw them away. It’s hard, of course, but it will be the best choice. However, the choice is yours.
Contact a psychologist, because this is a person who will listen to you and objectively give you advice on how to survive this situation. A specialist will help you find a way out and point out things you haven’t seen. After all, keeping everything to yourself will be much worse than sharing it. Your job is just to tell the truth and follow the recommendations. You should become joyful, free, independent, and not think “I’m abandoned, I’m offended, I’m unhappy.” If you feel sorry for yourself, you will become pathetic and unhappy. And this will not help in any way to survive the situation that has developed.
To experience mental pain, the pain of betrayal by a loved one, it takes time, sometimes a lot of time. You need to not dwell on this, but move on, because there is only one life. Look into the future, where that pain no longer exists, make plans. Remember some grievances from the past that at that time seemed unbearable. Has it passed? This too shall pass. After all, time heals.
How to learn to forgive people
Now you know a lot about why people are betrayed. However, to learn to forgive people, such knowledge will not be enough. Try to comprehend everything properly, putting yourself in the shoes of your offender. Perhaps he had good reasons for betrayal that you are not aware of.
In most cases, it can be extremely difficult to completely calm down while experiencing severe mental pain. Emotions will every now and then take precedence over reason and come out. Try to stay sane. Cry and scream when you are alone with yourself, throwing out all the negativity.
As soon as you manage to regain your sober mind, you will be able to understand the situation in full and see two sides of the coin at once. Perhaps after this you will be able to completely forgive the person for the act committed, finding part of the guilt for what he did within yourself. Or at least you will be able to learn a valuable life lesson from all this.
How to cope with pain?
The psychologist’s advice on how to survive the betrayal of loved ones and cope with pain will be as follows:
- Time cures. Gradually, you stop reacting this way to what happened and remember it less and less. The fact of betrayal itself will not go away, but the attitude towards it will change and life will become easier.
- No need to generalize. If one person abandoned you, you shouldn’t say that all men are traitors and assholes. After all, you are surrounded by many good and beautiful couples who have lived their whole lives together, walking through life hand in hand. You don't have to give up your happiness just because you were once betrayed. If this is not the first time in your life, figure out within yourself what’s wrong, and then blame someone else.
- Remember the good times. Try to see the positive sides of people whom you believe and trust, who are with you in difficult situations, proven over the years.
- Do good. Take part in some charity event, become a volunteer, and you will see how many good and sympathetic people there are in the world who will rush to help even strangers. There is no need to line everyone up with the same line.
- People who give advice to forgive and return to their previous life are those who have never experienced or experienced such a feeling of emptiness and heartache. It is very important not to dwell on this problem so as not to get stuck in the time when it happened. Don’t get hung up on thoughts about what to do next, how to live. Don't think about whether you can live without this person, and don't think about what people will think of you. Remember the positive moments you lived with this person, for which you are grateful, and try to let go so that there are no hard feelings left.
- Throw out all the CDs with sad films and music from your house, try to see only the best and positive in everything.
Every life lesson is an experience, and it is needed for something. You need to survive the betrayal of a loved one and move on, without remembering what happened before. Only then will life sparkle with new colors, and you will be able to rejoice again.
Understand who is capable of betrayal
The values of people with the anal vector do not coincide with the values of people with other vectors.
People with the skin vector have completely different desires. They get to know each other easily and enjoy it - new people, new experiences, new relationships. They can break up, not considering it a betrayal at all, and then resume the relationship again. They love variety with the prospect of benefiting from it. They do not know and do not understand what offense is, they do not need to learn how to forgive it.
They even build their family relationships with those with whom it is more profitable. “Married successfully”, “Married advantageously”, etc.
For people with a visual vector, it is important to build emotional connections with a large number of people. The meaning of their life is love. They can't love one for too long. They love to be seen, visit museums, exhibitions and socialize, and fall in love.
The given examples of life values of people with different mental properties show how different we all are. And what is important and valuable for people with the anal vector is unknown to the owners of the other seven vectors. Everyone else lives with different priorities. Therefore, it’s even difficult to imagine the variety of life situations that our hero might be offended by.
The people around him who committed some act that he was offended by may not even realize that they caused mental suffering to someone. It never occurs to them that someone regards their behavior as betrayal.
There are no people who offend. There are those who are offended.
With the awareness of this begins the path to understanding how to forgive and not be offended, the path to discovering the ability to learn to see those triggering moments when resentment arises.
Is there life after a loved one's betrayal?
Suppose that after the betrayal of your beloved man, you managed to overcome grievances and forgive him for such an offense. Mutual understanding has been restored to the family, and the betrayal itself is forgotten. Very often, betrayal only benefits family relationships.
Couples in love become even closer and dearer to each other.
Overcoming adversities and troubles together brings a man and a woman closer, making their marriage only stronger. Marriage statistics show that if spouses in a family have experienced infidelity and overcome the adversity associated with it, then their union can well be called strong and reliable. This may seem incomprehensible, but after experiencing betrayal, spouses begin to trust each other much more, and the fairer sex suddenly begins to feel more confident. We can, of course, say that the past ordeal changed both spouses. And, of course, the betrayal was only confirmation that the love between these two is truly real.
The situation is completely different if your lover, after cheating, begins to irritate you incredibly, and your soul is constantly tormented by doubts as to whether you will be able to live and communicate in the future with this person.
In this state of affairs, the best way out would be separation, since only with its help can you try to maintain calm and self-control towards each other.
For such people, close, family and, especially, family relationships become impossible, but you can maintain friendship and continue to communicate with each other (for example, for the sake of a child). Moreover, it will be much easier to do this without preserving family relationships, but by parting like civilized and adult people.
Undoubtedly, after all these squabbles are over, a woman will have to draw certain conclusions for herself and
pay attention to the following data
:
- What kind of underwear does she wear at home, what does she wear when relaxing?
Every self-respecting lady should know that it is lingerie that makes a woman sexy and attractive in the eyes of a man.Most women know about this, but over time, a certain relaxation occurs and self-care fades into the background. And completely in vain!
- You should look at yourself carefully in the mirror, assessing it with an outside glance.
How do you look in front of your loved one when there is no need to do makeup and hair when going out, so to speak, in public? - How regularly do you maintain your own physical fitness?
Do you go to a swimming pool or gym? If you don’t have such activities in your life yet, be sure to start doing them. You can even enlist the support of a friend (or friends). This will allow you to combine sports activities that are beneficial for your figure with friendly communication. - If there are children in your family, then they should be protected from discussing the unpleasant relationships of adults.
On the contrary, you should constantly emphasize that you love each other, and, of course, dote on your children.
How is treason different from betrayal?
We very often confuse the concepts of “treason” and “betrayal,” but these are different things. Let's give an example. When a person changes his job to a higher paying one, this is treason. If before leaving he stole important information, then this is betrayal. Here, the relationship between employee and employer not only moved to a new status, but the organization suffered financially and morally.
Of course, the woman herself decides what is considered betrayal and whether it is worth forgiving her husband’s betrayal. Situations vary, and much depends on the age and duration of the relationship.
Sometimes everything drags on so much that the mistress has children, and she begins to demand more. It is necessary to consider each situation individually. While betrayal is difficult to justify, you can try to forget a one-time betrayal.
Cheating husband: forgive or leave?
So, it turned out that the spouse has someone. You did some research and it turned out to be true. What to do now? Is it possible to forgive your husband's betrayal?
- Take your time.
- So far nothing bad has happened.
- Clarify for yourself what is important to you.
- You can insist on ending communication on the side.
- The husband continues the affair on the side.
Stop and reflect. You realized that you were building a life together with a person who cheated on you. But you lived with him for a long time. Try to close your eyes to this. Admit out loud the fact of betrayal: “Yes, he cheated!” Say these words as many times as you can. If you repeat the phrase long enough, after a while you will laugh about it.
Health is good. There is food and a roof over your head. Yes, the situation is unpleasant, but this is not a reason to commit suicide! You need to pull yourself together and get rid of the negativity. Forget about it once and for all. And stop replaying in your head the messages that your beloved wrote to his mistress, speaking unflatteringly about you.
Surely you are thinking about forgiving your husband for cheating and saving your family. And this is quite real. The main desire.
If you want there to be harmony between you and your husband, forbid yourself from mentioning your rival out loud, asking him questions about her, comparing her, and even more so tracking her down. It's unpleasant and pointless.
Perhaps you realized that you can neither forget nor forgive your husband, so you decide to divorce him. Just know that breaking up won't make you feel better. At least not right away. Divorce is not always the right choice. Most likely, the only one who will benefit from this is the spouse’s mistress.
A man can agree to this and will try to return peace and love to the family. If this is your case, do not remember the past, do not reproach it. After all, he stayed with you. Isn't this what you wanted?
When a man refuses to end an affair, give him a condition. Firmly, but without threats, tell him of your intention to divorce. Your husband will definitely break up with someone else if your union is important to him and he understands that you are serious.
Judas is the main image of the traitor in the Bible
Betrayal appeared from the moment of the fall of the first man. The prophet Jeremiah spoke well about traitors 600 years before the birth of Christ:
“...with their lips they speak kindly to their neighbor, but in their hearts they build bonds for him.”
(Jer 9: 
King David spoke about them like this:
“...their lips are softer than butter, and in their heart is enmity; their words are more tender than oil, but they are drawn swords.”
(Ps. 54:22)
Judas Iscariot. James Jacques Tissot, 1836. Judas Iscariot is the most striking example of betrayal
However, no traitor can compare with Judas Iscariot. Being a disciple of Christ and one of the twelve apostles, he betrayed Jesus, handing him over to the authorities.
Why did he do this? The Scripture indicates that he took thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal. This is a large amount for those times.
Judas
betrayed Jesus by handing him over to the authorities
At the same time, theologians claim that not only money became the motive for the betrayal of Judas, but also ordinary envy.
He wanted to reign with Christ when he restored the kingdom of Israel. Many then believed that the Messiah was the king who would restore greatness to the Israelites.
The Savior foresaw the betrayal and gave signs to Judas so that he would come to his senses. So during the Last Supper Jesus
“... having dipped a piece, he gave it to Judas Simon Iscariot. And after this piece Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What are you doing, do it quickly?” He took the piece and immediately went out; but it was night."
(John 13: 26-27, 30)
Here there is a direct indication of Christ’s knowledge of betrayal, but Judas did not accept this sign. He decided in advance to abandon Him.
His kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane, with which he pointed the Romans and bishop's servants to Jesus, became a household name. His betrayal led to a shameful death.
As Evangelist Matthew testifies, after Jesus was executed, Judas Iscariot threw the money given to him by the high priests onto the ground in the temple and hanged himself.
Suicide of Judas. Judas died by hanging himself, thereby closing his path to the Kingdom of God
This was an inglorious end for a traitor who, with such a step, closed the gates to the Kingdom of God for himself. This was his conscious choice and no one pushed him to it.
By refusing repentance and forgiveness by Christ, Judas destroyed himself. He betrayed his teacher, although he was his student and was one of the twelve chosen ones. That is why his fate should serve as an example to all traitors and those who want to betray.
