Forgiveness, Trust, and Moving Forward (Full Episode - Archive)

Forgiveness, Trust, and Moving Forward (Full Episode - Archive)

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For many, it’s tangled up with old hurts, broken trust, and the messy business of forgiveness. This archived Relational Recovery conversation brings hosts Wes Thompson and Austin Hill together to talk honestly about how forgiveness and trust work inside real relationships, especially for those dealing with addiction and unwanted behaviours.

This chat is aimed at people in recovery, their families, and anyone shaped by Christian spirituality who’s trying to build healthier relationships. Wes and Austin talk through the awkward gap between churchy slogans like “forgive and forget” and the lived reality of being lied to, betrayed or used. Austin admits that for years he skipped straight to forgetting: “So that’s not even forgiveness.

It’s just allowing people to treat me like a doormat.” You’ll hear them unpack the crucial difference between forgiveness and consequences. Wes explains that forgiving someone means “me letting go of the anger… that does not mean, though, that there will not be consequences.” A stolen bike story (twice!) adds some much-needed humour while showing how misplaced trust can slowly erode self-respect.

The conversation also touches on how trust ebbs and flows over time, why it’s mature to adjust how close you stand to someone who keeps hurting you, and how rebuilding trust after addiction usually takes longer than anyone wants.

For those from a Christian background, Wes presses into self-forgiveness and receiving God’s grace as the starting point for forgiving others: “If I can’t forgive myself, trust me, it’s going to be really hard to forgive other people.” If you’ve ever wondered whether forgiveness means being a doormat or cutting people out forever, this honest, practical talk might help you ask better questions about what moving forward could look like.