I’ve worked with couples who don’t survive infidelity. There are many reasons they don’t. There is one consistent theme, that ran through these marriages. The person who had the affair didn’t commit to be monogamous in the future. S/he never said, “I won’t do this again; I promise.” Some people fail to say these words because they think it’s self-evident. Others don’t promise this change because they’re too proud. Rebuilding trust is difficult under these circumstances.
Whatever the reason, failing to promise monogamy makes your partner wonder whether the two of you are on the same page about the future of your marriage. So, don’t hold back. If you are honestly committed, let your partner know, in no uncertain terms, that it is your plan to be completely monogamous.
Rebuilding Trust: Share Details
If your spouse is the sort of person who requires lots of information in order to feel better about the affair, you should be honest. I know this is very difficult and you may be tempted to withhold information, thinking that you’re protecting your spouse. But many in your spouse’s shoes have said that the worst part of the infidelity were the lies and deception that followed the disclosure. It’s time for you to come clean and clear the air. As tough as that might be, it’s a lot easier than lying, covering up, and being discovered again. That corrodes trust tremendously. So share, even if it hurts.
Sometimes you’ll question whether sharing information is a good idea.
You wonder this because your spouse reacts so badly to the things you’ve said. But if your spouse determines that the road to recovery is paved with brutal honesty, that’s the path you need to take. It’s important to do this, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel. There will be times when the two of you will feel close as a result of this new honesty and you’ll begin to feel that your truthfulness has really paid off. Then, just when you thought you were out of the woods and the questions would cease, a whole new slew of questions gets thrown your way. You feel as if you’re getting the third degree.
Remember, healing is a process, not a quick fix.
Just because your spouse was fine on Monday doesn’t mean s/he will be fine on Thursday. It also doesn’t mean that sharing information isn’t working. Some people think, “I told him/her what happened. If that was so useful, why is s/he still having a problem and needing to talk about it constantly? That’s just the way improvement happens … in waves. You need to continue to be forthcoming, from now until forever.
OFFER REASSURANCES:
Even though you have decided to turn over a new leaf, your spouse is still reacting to what happened. This is completely normal, for now, you owe it to your partner and to yourself to bend over backward to prove your trustworthiness.
You might be thinking to yourself, “I decided to stop the affair and become trustworthy. I don’t know why s/he just doesn’t trust me now.” The reason is your spouse is feeling very insecure right now and needs all the help you give him/her to get back on stable ground. You need to extend yourself—even if you don’t think you should have to—to help your spouse feel more secure. Along these lines, do what your spouse asks. Here are some things s/he might ask of you:
• Call from work often.
• Limit out-of-town travel temporarily.
• Offer complete travel itineraries and phone numbers.
• Talk about your day in detail.
• Spend more time together.
• Be willing to answer any and all questions about the OP and about your whereabouts.
Remember, once your spouse feels more trust in you and in your marriage, many of these requests will stop.
EXPECT UPS AND DOWNS:
I really want to emphasize this point. The road to recovery is a zigzag, not a straight line. At first, the bad days will definitely outnumber the good ones. In fact, there may not be any good days to speak of. But slowly, as you begin to talk and make sense of what happened, you will have your positive moments. Moments will turn into days. Then, you will actually have a stretch of a few good days at a time. Just when you start to get optimistic something will happen that will remind your spouse about the affair and bring back those unpleasant feelings.
This rockiness and instability will occur for a very long time. You need to expect that. It doesn’t mean that this problem is insurmountable. What it means is that this problem is still being resolved. But it happens slowly, much too slowly for you. And what should you do in the meantime?
BE PATIENT:
You might feel a great deal of remorse about what happened. Even so, there will be times when you have a hard time understanding why your spouse seems intent on hanging on to the affair. From your standpoint, the whole thing is over and you want to just move on. However, if you convey this emotion to your spouse, s/he will feel that you’re not empathetic, that you have no idea what s/he has been going through, and that will set both of you back considerably.
I realize that your need to move on has little to do with your insensitivity. One of the primary reasons you want to put the past in the past, is because you don’t want to see the hurt on your partner’s face any longer. But be that as it may, you have to move at your spouse’s pace. You won’t be able to speed things along with your anger.
Continue to answer questions and be reassuring.
If your spouse still wants to know where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing, continue offering information. It won’t last forever, even though it seems that way right now. This is a transitional period. There has been major breach of trust and it takes time to heal. Be patient, be loving, be responsive, and you will get through this.
Marriage Missions’ Editors Note: We’re concluding this article by giving you additional thoughts that may help in this battle of rebuilding trust:
Added Advice for Rebuilding Trust:
• This advice is given by Dr Phil McGraw (on the Dr. Phil Show Drphil.com, “You’re Not the Person I Married” aired 12/5/02). Dr McGraw said this to a husband who had an affair:
“I’m going to tell you, one guy to another, if you really want this marriage to work, you gotta get real with her. And you’ve got to get real with yourself because you’re trying to gloss this over a little bit and hope that it goes away. But my wife told me something a long time ago that I’ve never forgotten. She said, ‘Women have a real long memory.’ And you have, brick by brick by brick, constructed a wall between the two of you with your past behavior. And I’ll tell you what it takes; if you hear not another word I say today, hear this, OK?
“Number one, people who have nothing to hide, hide nothing. They hide nothing, mentally, emotionally, physically, behaviorally. They’re an absolute open book. Whatever you want to know about me, I’m here. I’m completely, totally open. And unless and until you do that—and it’s not just a matter of ‘if he’s over eating pizza when he says he’s eating pizza’—it’s a matter of everything being honest and truthful with you. It starts with being totally open and totally transparent.
“The second thing—and this may be the most important—until she knows you have heard her, she will never, ever, ever get beyond what has happened. She needs to know that you get the gravity of what you have done. Until she gets to that place, she will never, ever, ever be anything but the picture of pain you’re looking at right now.”
• Another thought to consider for Rebuilding Trust:
“It’s difficult to forgive 10 gallons worth of hurt when your spouse is only asking for a pint of forgiveness.” (Dr Roger Barrier)
The hurting spouse needs to know that you understand the enormity of what has been inflicted upon them. But when they feel you understand—that you really, truly get it, and are absolutely sorry, then REAL healing and hope for a brighter future can come into the relationship. But be realistic; your timing and your spouse’s timing can be totally different. Patience is a biblical virtue, and it’s also a necessary one in these types of circumstances.
Scriptures to consider:
• He who conceals his sins does not prosper but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
• Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to act. (Proverbs 3:27)
• Jesus said, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew 5:41)
• An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. (Proverbs 24:26)
• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)
In addition, the following advice can be helpful. It comes from the excellent book, When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages written by Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott (published by Zondervan Publishing). The first is:
To the spouse who had the affair:
• First and foremost, sever all contact with the third party immediately.
• To rebuild the trust you have broken with your partner, you need to establish clear boundaries.
• You must be willing to answer any questions from your spouse. This isn’t because your partner needs to know all the details of what went on; but they do need to know they have your willingness to give them the details.
• Openness to questioning shows respect, honor, and equality. It also shows that you can be trusted in the future.
To the spouse who has remained faithful:
• You should only ask questions if you really want the truth. If you can do it, it’s better to leave some things alone.
• You must also steer clear of the temptation down the road to use any information you ask for as a way to beat up your partner for other problems.
• Realize that it may take years to absorb the emotional impact of what has happened. Adultery isn’t something you can get over quickly. It’s important to give yourself plenty of recovery time.”
Also, below are several links to articles posted on various web sites that can help you as you work to rebuild trust.
More Info to Read Regarding Rebuilding Trust:
• REBUILDING TRUST IN THE AFTERMATH OF AN AFFAIR
• IS IT POSSIBLE TO REBUILD TRUST AFTER UNFAITHFULNESS?
The first portion of this article came from the book, The Divorce Remedy: The Proven 7-Step Program for Saving Your Marriage
(NOTE: We agree with about 95% of what this book presents. We do, however, disagree with some of Michelle’s advice to couples who face an Internet Pornography problem. Even so, we recommend this book to couples because the rest of the advice is very helpful.)
Filed under: Bitterness and Forgiveness Surviving Infidelity
I gave him a second chance and forgave him the first time. He went back to her to see if there was anything left between them. Well he found out there wasn’t after she smashed the windshield to his pickup, and grabbed him by the throat and broke his necklace.
I cannot forgive him or give him a third chance after all the hurt he has caused. He divorced me after he was given an aultimatum by her. The first time we went to court he could not go thru with it but the 2nd time I never gave him that opportunity.
Right now I’m still living under the same roof with him, and I feel nothing but hatred for him. I’ve had her leave very disturbing messages on my phone, and of course the sherriff is not able to do anything as he says. I NEED HELP!!!!!
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I’ve texted the ex-wife numeriuos times after I told my wife I wouldn’t. Sometimes I feel I need the drama in my life to feel whole.
My wife cheated on me for 6 years with two married co-workers (medical doctors). She apparently started cheating 2 years prior to our marriage with these same male friends and continued until I went to extraordinary length to provide irrefutable evidence. While she engaged both men physically prior to our marriage, she subsequently engaged one of them physically and with the other, she had phone sex on countless occasions (not known to either men she was involved with the other). The painful part was that she was probably with at least one of them few weeks prior to our wedding and both of her partners were at our wedding. For this reason, I’ve made it a point not to look at our wedding pictures or videos because they would be in there.
Whilst it was not so much of a shock mainly because I had suspected them for a long time but she denied it. I still cannot come to terms with her selfishness and sheer wickedness. After finding out, she broke down and said she would rather die than lose me as she still loved me. Although I was determined initially to end the marriage, I considered her remorse as she swore never to repeat such mistakes in her life again. She has severed all ties with these individuals and promised to rededicate her life to Christ and me as her spouse. She has since fasted and prayed for forgiveness on several occasions which at least takes part of the hurt away.
The problem though is, despite forgiving her, I can practically relive every lie and dishonesty she has shown towards me over the years. She is such a pathological liar that a look at her really scares me. I also no longer value her that much. I am not able to say I truly love her again either although I do not want a divorce. I discovered all this about 2 weeks ago so I’m giving myself a little bit of time and prayer to see if we can resolve this.
Hello sir, I had affair before my marriage but after marriage I have deleted me and my ex boyfriend’s photo. But some how my husband found the photo from the file manager and then he lost trust in me. But since after the marriage I am true to him. He is not understanding and I don’t know what to do; it’s already been one year completion and now the marriage done, please suggest to me what to do, I am in very bad situation.
How do you get to this point? How do you get the cheating party to read and even apply any of this? I’m a Christian, and so is my spouse. I’m the betrayed party and apparently it’s all my fault. My spouse has not indicated remorse at all -our culture basically allows men to cheat. The woman is at fault for the breakup and the cheating.
I’ve been married 10 years and it started with the sexting-and the lie -i just met her online. This continued until I started checking his mobiles at which point he started hiding them. I made my demands and he promised to break things off, which was another lie. This happened frequently during the ten years at about two yearly intervals and it would be the same response.
Recently I sneaked a peek at his phone and he’s now having sex with three women. He’s mad at me for finding a shoulder (my best female friend) to cry on. He says we should sort out our issues. I’m mad and tired and just about to throw in the towel. I’m bitter because there have been no signs of change -he still hides his mobile from me. I don’t even touch it. My kids are young and he wants instant forgiveness. Please help. Anyway, thank you for this article.
Hi there. You will have to be direct with him. Tell him he has two options. To leave you, or stay with you. I cheated on my spouse too. I showed a lot of remorse. I went through my well deserved hell to gain his trust. I wanted to make it work with him but it starts with honesty. It needs to get worst before it gets better. If he wants to stay with you he has to prove himself trustworthy.
Sweetie, I don’t want to tell you to leave, but he should be fighting to keep you to prove he will do anything to keep you. Counseling, access to cell phone etc. open book. If he can’t do that, it’s not good enough. He needs to gain your trust because he broke it. I get it. I know why I cheated. There’s never an excuse, but sometime you can understand why a person would. Try to understand why he’s cheating. That’s important. I didn’t feel loved by my spouse. He was verbally abusive and I looked for comfort. I wanted to feel loved. For me it was purely emotional reasons. Men, they say it’s sexual only??? You need to understanding what drove or drives him to another woman(s) bed. Good luck to you.
Be a good husband.
Hi, my husband cheated on me and won’t show the text messages or emails he exchanged on the grounds that it’s invading his privacy. I feel like he is hiding something…
I’m thinking that his definition of privacy is sure different than ours. Didn’t you both vow to be “one” when you married? How can you do that and not share information that could threaten the marriage? There’s a difference between privacy and secrecy. Your husband is working in the mode of secrecy, not privacy. Here’s a link to an article we wrote that might clear this up for you: https://marriagemissions.com/privacy-vs-secrecy-in-marriage/. I pray it helps. You need prayer, and so does he if he thinks he can be married and keep secrets of this type of magnitude.
This is a painful journey and I’m losing myself in this process. Been married for 13 yrs, finding out your husband has a child of 4 years 6 months, from the mother of the child. It’s 9 months and it’s more difficult. Walking in a hole of hell.
I found my husband was indulging in highly excessive pornography use and this article describes exactly how I feel. Although, it is unknown whether or not there have been physical encounters, I find myself wanting to know where he’s been, who he’s been with, and so on. He almost gets angry when I try to have a conversation about this issue. Should I have him read this article? Maybe, if he hears/reads it indirectly, he will gain more understanding and we can begin to heal.
My wife has had several affairs. We have been married over thirty three years. The last affairs were online about 10 to 15 years ago but I still feel betrayed. I feel that I am still waiting for her to do it again. Simply put I don’t trust her.
In the last 5 years my wife has wanted nothing to do with sex with me. She says that she just doesn’t want sex now. I started wondering if this was because she was having another affair. Every time that I turned onto our street I would look to see if there was a strange car parked anywhere near our home. This all came out in a discussion we had last night. I tried to be as transparent as I could. I know that my admitting that I still don’t trust her hurt her. I was only being honest for the first time in a long time.
I can’t get the affairs out of my mind. She says that she feels no connection when we make love. It is just sex. That crushed me because I see our love making as a bonding experience. A way to connect, not just sex. I wonder if I am just trying to stay the “victim” or am I trying to punish her for not wanting me. She said that my ego is bruised. Wow, it means so little to her. She often blows off when I share my hurt and fears. I still love her with every fiber of my being. I want to trust her. I want to cut out these memories.
She feels that it is ridiculous after all this time. She says that she can’t believe that She is still paying for her mistakes. Many times she has expressed sorrowfulness for what this is doing to her. I ask why she could only think about herself. Not how this might have effected me all these years. She got mad when I started describing empathy. I want to trust her and not question her sincerity or love for me. How can I let go of this? I pray every day for God to take the pain away to let me forget what happened. To let go of it. I don’t know how. Help. Please.