K
I'm 17 and I'm in a relationship with my 16 year old boyfriend and we've run into some trouble. We have been together for seven months. We are both Christians but I tend to have more values than he does. For instance, when I met him, he swore a lot. I told him that I did not like swearing and he stopped for me. At first I was surprised that he did it so cold turkey. After that he said that, I didn't hear one swear word from his mouth. I was impressed and I thought that maybe he wasn't just doing it for me, but because it is the right thing to do. I have trust issues and at first I thought he might be doing it behind my back, since that is what a few of my friends in the past have done. But I decided to put my trust in him because I thought he was the type of guy who wouldn't do something like that. As the months went on, I fell more and more in love with him. But then I found out he swore behind my back. It was a big shock for me and very painful and I couldn't handle myself. I still cry about it. Part of it is that he did it even though it made me unhappy and part of it is that he didn't directly tell me the truth. He didn't directly lie either, but he kept the truth from me. He knows he hurt me a lot and he has apologized. I love him so much and I am on the verge of forgiving him but the one thing that is holding me back is that if I tell him I forgive him, he might keep doing it behind my back and I am afraid I will get hurt again. I am also afraid that it will be really hard to trust him again. Whenever I see or hear a swear word now, (which is a lot) i imagine him saying it. I hate living through that. I imagine stuff in my head about hearing him do it, me running off and crying, and him not caring. So my question is: how do I forgive him? How do I stop these images that I get about him that may or may not be true? And how do I put my trust in him again?