Why Do People Betray?

One of the most bitter experiences in life is being betrayed. Betrayal is serious because it destroys trust, and without trust, there can be no relationships. Without trust, societies, families, institutions, and most certainly marriages cannot function. Betrayal shakes a person to his or her core because it ruptures the ability to trust. And the most devastating is when the person betrayed has little knowledge of or reason why it happened.

What causes people to betray the trust that has been placed in them? Here are four significant reasons. 

• If there is excessive ambition, greed, lust, or passion. When a person that cannot exercise self-control is overcome with these vices, there is often a betrayal.

•  A drug addict will betray the trust placed on him because his addiction is overpowering. It becomes greater than any sense of loyalty, integrity, or honesty he may have. 

• A person's desire to be wealthy and needing to lead a luxurious life may cause him to steal, embezzle or misuse information given to him in confidence. Overpowering sexual attraction may also cause a person to betray his or her marriage. 

• People like to prove how smart they are. Many people like to play with others’ minds, and manipulate lives just to stir up trouble. This often happens in the workplace.

Betrayal is truly a terrible thing because it causes the one who has been betrayed to question his or her ability to function normally. And it also causes them to question their own judgment because betrayal messes with the mind. The mind cannot easily reconcile that a good relationship turned into something bad or even hatefully evil. Betrayal for some people can even destroy their self-confidence to a point that there is an accompanying deep sense of false guilt followed by grief, which can take a long time to heal. 

We must ask God to help us not lose our confidence or our ability to trust others because betrayal can be paralyzing. Let us also ask the Lord to give us strength, courage, and hope to move forward. In addition, prayer for the one or those that have betrayed us is the most painful and difficult. However, forgiveness and petitioning God for the healing of our offenders will eventually enable us to maintain our trust in mankind. We must recall that forgiveness is not based on feelings but a decision of the will that that sets us free. Finally, we need to ask Our Lord to heal the deep and painful memories of the situation. Only then can one experience true freedom and healing of the emotional wounds.

by Jerrie Castro