How To Forgive Someone Who Broke Your Trust CompletelyHow To Forgive Someone Who Broke Your Trust Completely
The Call with Nancy Sabato
Nancy Sabato and Laurie Davies talk about emotional hoarding, betrayal and the struggle to forgive, all through a Christ-centred lens. Their conversation shares Laurie’s personal journey and scriptural encouragement for anyone weighed down by grudges, fear and unresolved hurt.
27:57•1 Jun 2026
Letting Go of Grudges: Faith, Betrayal and Learning to Forgive
Episode Overview
- Unresolved emotions like bitterness, regret and shame can pile up like clutter, quietly stealing joy and freedom.
- A helpful first step is to honestly name what hurt you instead of excusing the other person or minimising your pain.
- Grief over betrayal often includes anger, and acknowledging that before God can open the way toward real healing.
- Forgiveness may feel like losing, but holding a grudge keeps you in bondage, while releasing it reflects Jesus’ full forgiveness of you.
- Remembering that Jesus is always with you and has already set captives free can shift the focus from the betrayer to the safety of his love.
“Sometimes the best we can do is go to the Lord and say, okay, forgiveness is the target… so I forgive, help my unforgiveness.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Nancy Sabato and author/lay counsellor Laurie Davies leans into one of the hardest parts of healing: forgiving someone who has shattered your trust and left you stuck in pain you can’t quite shake. Laurie talks about what she calls “emotional hoarding” – the quiet stockpiling of grudges, regret, bitterness and shame that builds up in the heart the way clutter builds up in a hoarded home.
You’ll hear her describe how small hurts stack on top of deeper wounds like rejection and worthlessness, until you hardly notice how cramped and joyless life has become.
As she puts it, “pretty soon, not only can the Lord not really be reigning in our hearts because we’re letting our emotions run the show, but we don’t even have freedom to move in our own lives and in our relationships.” Laurie shares honestly about her own four-year struggle to forgive a serious betrayal, including the moment a counsellor pushed her to stop making excuses and finally name what had hurt her.
From there, she walks through how grief, anger and the fear of being alone can all show up when trust is broken, and why stuffing those feelings or endlessly replaying them in your head keeps you chained to the past.
Grounded in scripture, the chat keeps circling back to Jesus’ example on the cross and his words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Laurie explains why forgiveness can feel like losing, how it actually breaks the enemy’s grip, and how her faith shifted once she finally let go of her grudge and felt the weight lift.
If you’re in recovery, wrestling with family hurt, church hurt, or old resentments that keep fuelling cravings and anxiety, this gentle, faith-filled talk might nudge you to ask: what am I still carrying that Jesus is ready to take off my shoulders?
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