Guest Blog from Suzanne Eller
1. You’ve been listening to many stories from women who struggle to forgive. How many women struggle with forgiveness in their marriages? 
Nearly 50% of the women who share their stories on my blog, or in person, say that their biggest struggle to forgive is in their marriage.
For many, it’s when a spouse is continually unkind, or says words that diminish her. In this instance, many women bear their soul and are told either to get out, to seek counsel, or to submit.
The first leaves a woman who desires to stay and work things out because she loves her husband and wants her marriage to succeed, with a heavier burden.
In the second, seeking counsel is wise advice, as long as it’s counsel that is skilled in helping a couple, with God’s help, find new ground in their marriage. Many times “counsel” can be someone who do not have those skills.
The third, to submit, is often shared without proper context. The word “submit” is thrown out without the beautiful framework of instructing husbands to love their wives as “Christ loved the church”. This is why wise counsel is key. Submission is respect, it’s great love, it’s working through the harder spots.
2. So, how do you begin to forgive in this instance?
It’s a blend of truth, grace, and confidence.
Truth is shared, perhaps in the setting of a counselor’s office, or perhaps in a moment where it’s not heated, after prayer and with love, and with the intent of working toward a healthier relationship.
Truth is coated with grace, knowing that we all fall short. It’s shared with wisdom and without accusation. And in some instances, it’s shared with healthy boundaries, not to punish, but to work toward the healthiest relationship possible. (A great book on boundaries that is both healthy and filled with wisdom is Boundaries in Marriage by Cloud and Townsend.)
Confidence comes from knowing that the Truth spoken in scripture is who you are. When I began to realize that the words spoken over me in my childhood were from a broken place in another person, it brought two things:
a) I began to see who I was to God. Words mattered, but His words carried greater weight.
b) It brought an element of compassion. This person wasn’t the enemy. The true enemy desires to rob a person of their worth, and value. Just as I was harmed by words, so was this person. It didn’t make what happened okay, but I stopped trying to fix another person (which is impossible) and began to see the greater picture, which allowed me to speak truth with grace, instead of speaking from a place of hurt and anger.
3. What about unfaithfulness?
A percentage of that 50% wrote in that they struggled to forgive because of unfaithfulness. I shared Carlie’s story, a woman whose husband left her after 29 years of marriage. In this case, the word forgive meant that God moved into the broken and raw places in Carlie left by her husband’s unfaithfulness.
He knew her. He knew her heart. She intentionally walked into a relationship with God during that painful time so that He could fill up her “temple”, residing in Her, healing her, moving in her to pray for him and even forgive, as much as was possible at that time, in those moments when she wanted nothing more than to take revenge, or lash out. In Carlie’s case, her husband went on with his new life, but she also had new life in Christ that filled her up in the harder months ahead. She was redefined in so many ways – single mom, single woman. But her role as God’s daughter was made that much more clear and concrete.
For those whose spouse asked for forgiveness and who desired to change, forgiving is key as you rebuild trust. But give yourself permission to be honest with your heavenly father, with the understanding that there is nothing in scripture that condones unfaithfulness. It’s not in God’s plan or His character. If He grieves over the fallen sparrow (Matt. 10:29), then He grieves over your marriage. He is big enough to handle your honesty while leading you to a new level of spiritual intimacy with Him and even tender vulnerability in your relationship with Him as you work through this harder aspect of forgiving.
At this moment, it may seem impossible to forgive on your own, but are you willing? That’s the only question that you need to answer. God is a Healer, and my prayer is that your marriage goes to a new place, but also that you sense God’s hand over you as you work through this difficult place, and that one day you look back and see His tender touch over you and your marriage. My prayer is also that you bring in wise counsel as you work through the past to find a stronger future.
Get the Book
Download chapter 1 or purchase your copy of The Unburdened Heart at Proverbs 31 Ministries.
About Suzie
Suzanne (Suzie) Eller is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and author. She’s written six books, hundreds of articles, and writes devos with Encouragement for Today that reaches over 500,000 women. Suzie is a radio co-host with Luann Prater at Encouragement Cafe Joy FM. She encourages women through two Facebook communities reaching over 20,000 five days a week. She’s been featured on TV and radio such as Focus on the Family, Aspiring Women, 100 Huntley Street, KLOVE, MidDay Connection, The Harvest Show, and many others. Most importantly, she is a wife, mom, and “Gaga” to four beautiful grandbabies. Connect with Suzie at www.tsuzanneeller.com.
In a world filled with inauthentic people, she is a breath of fresh air. In a day and age when friendships are developed based on what one can do for you, a person who gives expecting nothing in return is rare.
