Why Do So Many Relationships Struggle With Trust?

If you’ve ever wondered “Why do I have trouble trusting others?” or “Why do my relationships feel stuck?” — you’re not alone. Studies show that 75% of adults do not remember receiving comfort as children during times of distress. That lack of comfort often leads to insecure attachment styles, making it harder to build healthy relationships as adults.

At Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, Pastor Zoe Hatcher shared how God’s love offers a different way forward through a simple but powerful tool called the Comfort Circle.

What Is the Comfort Circle?

The Comfort Circle is a process that helps us build trust in our relationships by learning how to:

1. Seek Awareness – Identify what we’re really feeling.
2. Engage – Share those feelings honestly and vulnerably.
3. Explore – Listen with empathy, reflect, and validate the other person’s experience.
4. Resolve – Meet one another’s needs through forgiveness, compromise, and action.

This process doesn’t just apply to marriage. It can transform our parenting, our friendships, and even how we interact with coworkers.

Step 1: How Do I Become More Aware of My Feelings?

It starts with self-awareness. Many of us only describe emotions as “good” or “bad,” but God designed us with a wide spectrum of feelings. Tools like a feelings wheel can help us identify emotions such as gratitude, insecurity, irritation, peace, loneliness, or joy.

The Bible encourages this kind of reflection:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” — Psalm 139:23

When we invite God into our emotions, He helps us sort through them with clarity and grace.

Step 2: How Do I Share My Feelings Without Starting a Fight?

The next step is courage. Vulnerability is risky, but it’s how trust is built. Instead of blaming statements, use “I” statements to communicate your experience.

Example:
❌ “You never listen to me.”
✅ “I felt ignored and sad when you didn’t respond after I shared my heart.”

As Ephesians 4:25 reminds us:

“Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor…”

Step 3: How Do I Listen When I Don’t Agree?

Listening doesn’t mean staying silent while you prepare your defense. It means truly entering into the other person’s experience.

• Use reflective statements like: “It sounds like you felt hurt and afraid. I’d feel that way too.”
• Ask clarifying questions.
• Resist the urge to interrupt, defend, or correct.

James 1:19 gives this timeless wisdom:

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Step 4: How Do We Resolve Conflict and Restore Trust?

Resolution happens when the listener asks: “What do you need?”

The speaker should make one specific, reasonable request. For example:
“I need you to wash the dishes on nights when I have late meetings, because I feel unappreciated when I come home to a full sink.”

Meeting each other’s needs, apologizing when necessary, and following through builds trust over time. Galatians 6:2 reminds us:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

What Happens When We Complete the Comfort Circle?

• Anxiety lowers — the relationship feels safer.
• Closeness increases — bonds grow deeper.
• Trust is built — love flows more freely.

As 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 says:

“God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Can Broken Attachment Styles Really Be Healed?

Yes. While we can’t change the past, we can choose to live differently today. God invites us into a new way of loving:

“Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience… And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” — Colossians 3:12–14

Through the Comfort Circle, our avoidant, controlling, or anxious patterns can be healed. We move closer to secure attachment — the way God designed love to work.

What Does God’s Love Teach Us About Relationships?

The Comfort Circle is not just a psychological tool; it reflects the very heart of God. Jesus prayed in John 17 for us to experience the same intimacy He shares with the Father:

“…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” — John 17:21

That means our marriages, friendships, and families can become a reflection of the unity of the Trinity itself.

Final Thought: Choosing to Love Like Jesus

Every day, we have the choice to either repeat cycles of distrust and fear, or to lean into God’s perfect love. By seeking awareness, engaging vulnerably, listening with empathy, and resolving with action, we can reflect His love in our closest relationships.

At Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, our purpose is simple: Loving God. Loving People. And learning to love well is where it all begins.

👉 Want to explore this further? Join us Sunday mornings at 71 Congress Street in Bradford, PA. Plan your visit here: https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/visit

Why Do Relationships Feel So Dramatic Sometimes?

Have you ever asked yourself:

• Why do we keep having the same fight over and over again?
• Why do I feel like I’m always chasing closeness while my spouse runs away?
• Why do I shut down when emotions get intense?

These are the kinds of questions Josh and Zoe Hatcher wrestled with in their marriage. In Part 3 of the Language of Love series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, they shared openly about their struggles and the breakthrough moments God brought.

The truth is this: the drama in their relationship was tied to patterns they had formed growing up—patterns known as love styles.

What Are Love Styles and Why Do They Matter?

A love style is the relational pattern you learned in childhood based on how you received love, comfort, or connection. These early lessons often carry into adulthood, quietly shaping the way you interact with others.

Some common love styles include:

• The Avoider – keeps emotions at a distance, minimizes conflict, avoids vulnerability.
• The Vacillator – longs for closeness but fears abandonment; swings between high hopes and deep disappointment.
• The Pleaser – works hard to keep peace but hides true needs.
• The Controller or Victim – patterns that create chaos, tension, and power struggles.

Josh identified as an Avoider. Zoe discovered she was a Vacillator. Together, these styles created what they called a Drama Duo—a predictable cycle of frustration and withdrawal.

👉 Curious about your own love style? Take the quiz here: Discover Your Love Style and Break Free from Unhealthy Patterns.

Why Do Couples Keep Fighting the Same Fight?

Have you noticed how the same arguments repeat—no matter the topic? That’s not coincidence. It’s what relationship experts call a core pattern.

For Josh and Zoe, it looked like this:

1. Zoe’s anxiety built up, and she expressed frustration to connect.
2. Josh felt overwhelmed and shut down.
3. Zoe felt dismissed and invisible, so she escalated.
4. Josh retreated further, waiting for it to “blow over.”

And the cycle started again.

This is what the Apostle Paul described in Romans 7:15:
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

What Does the Bible Say About These Cycles?

The Bible doesn’t shy away from the conflicts in relationships.

• Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
• James 4:1–3 – “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?”
• Ephesians 5:25–28 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”

Josh admitted he often used scripture the wrong way—seeing Zoe as “quarrelsome” and justifying avoidance. But God’s Word calls us to engage with love, not retreat in self-protection.

Can God Really Heal a Drama Duo?

Yes. God can bring breakthrough, even when patterns feel unshakable.

Lamentations 3:22–23 reminds us:
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

For Josh and Zoe, healing began with:

• Counseling — safe space to listen instead of react.
• Vulnerability — learning to share grief, shame, and struggles instead of hiding.
• Spiritual focus — inviting God into the heart of their marriage, not just trying harder on their own.

A turning point came when Josh finally shared the grief of losing his father. Instead of bottling it up, he let Zoe comfort and pray for him. That moment of honesty and vulnerability helped restore real intimacy.

What Other “Drama Duos” Exist?

Josh and Zoe’s Avoider-Vacillator pairing is just one example. Other love-style pairings create their own drama loops:

• Pleaser + Vacillator → The Weary
• Avoider + Pleaser → The Chase
• Avoider + Avoider → The Roommates
• Pleaser + Pleaser → Denial
• Vacillator + Vacillator → Bi-Polar cycles
• Controller + Victim → Chaotic tension

When you recognize your own dynamic, you can start to break the pattern.

How Do You Break Free from the Crazy Cycle?

Josh and Zoe described a biblical path they call the Comfort Circle:

1. Stop Denial & Seek Awareness – Acknowledge what’s really happening.
2. Choose to Engage – Don’t avoid emotions; step into the conversation.
3. Explore Feelings – Reflect back what you heard so the other person feels understood.
4. Resolve Conflict – Work to meet needs instead of defending yourself.

As Jesus commanded in John 13:34–35:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Final Thoughts

Relationships aren’t doomed to repeat old cycles. The patterns you learned in childhood—your love style—may shape your struggles today, but they don’t have to define your future.

If your marriage or family feels stuck in a Drama Duo, take hope: with God’s love, vulnerability, and practical steps toward healing, you can break free from the crazy cycle and experience real connection.

👉 Ready to take the next step? Discover your Love Style today and learn how God can reshape your story.

When trust is broken — through infidelity, betrayal, addiction, or years of neglect — it’s easy to believe the damage is beyond repair. But God specializes in restoration. Pastors Rich and Annette Dennison of Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA know this firsthand.

Their story is one of deep wounds, broken trust, and bad patterns — but also of healing, forgiveness, and transformation through Christ. Along the way, they discovered something powerful: many of the struggles we face in marriage don’t start in marriage. They start in childhood.

How Childhood Love Styles Shape Adult Relationships

Your “love style” is a relational pattern formed early in life — based on how you experienced connection, comfort, and conflict in your family. These patterns, if left unhealed, can quietly sabotage your marriage.

Rich and Annette identified four main love styles that often show up in relationships:

1. The Avoider

• Childhood root: Emotional needs overwhelmed or ignored by a parent.
• Adult behavior: Avoids emotions (both their own and their spouse’s), downplays needs, prefers independence.
• Typical phrases: “I’m fine,” “Just give me space,” “I don’t cry.”
• Biblical reminder: “In your anger do not sin… and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:26–27) God doesn’t tell us to avoid emotions — but to handle them in a way that honors Him.

2. The Pleaser

• Childhood root: Parents were overly critical, anxious, or controlling.
• Adult behavior: Reduces conflict by always trying to make others happy — often at the expense of their own needs.
• Typical phrases: “Whatever you decide,” “I just want to be with you.”
• Biblical reminder: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” (Galatians 1:10) Our worth comes from God, not human approval.

3. The Vacillator

• Childhood root: Inconsistent attention and affection from a parent.
• Adult behavior: Swings between craving intense connection and pushing people away when hurt.
• Typical phrases: “It’s love at first sight,” “If you would change, I’d be happy.”
• Biblical reminder: James 1:6 warns against being “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” Stability comes from trusting God’s unchanging love.

4. The Chaotic (Controller or Victim)

• Childhood root: Abuse, neglect, or unstable home life.
• Adult behavior: Controllers try to dominate to feel safe; Victims withdraw to survive.
• Typical phrases (Controller): “Don’t question me,” “It’s either me or you.”
• Typical phrases (Victim): “It’s my fault,” “It’s not so bad.”
• Biblical reminder: God invites the brokenhearted to find healing, safety, and identity in Him.

Our Story: From Brokenness to Healing

Rich and Annette’s marriage went through seasons of deep hurt:

• Infidelity
• Alcohol abuse and reckless behavior
• Financial collapse
• Betrayal of trust
• Unhealed childhood wounds

But God used unexpected people, a loving church family, and the truth of His Word to draw them back together. Healing didn’t happen overnight — it was a process of:

1. Acknowledging the past — Recognizing wounds and patterns without blaming everything on others.
2. Exploring faith — Learning to see themselves and each other through God’s eyes.
3. Building community — Finding safe, Christ-centered relationships that encouraged growth and accountability.

Can God Heal a Marriage After Cheating?

Yes — but it requires:

• Honest confession (James 5:16)
• True repentance — not just words, but a turning away from destructive behavior
• Rebuilding trust through consistent truthfulness and follow-through
• Forgiveness that releases bitterness (Ephesians 4:31–32)
• God’s transforming power — because self-help tips alone can’t heal a heart

Rich says, “God didn’t just fix our marriage — He changed us. That’s the real miracle.”

What to Do If Your Relationship Feels Hopeless

If you’re wondering, “Can God fix my marriage?”, here’s a roadmap:

1. Ask God for help — Pray honestly about your pain and fears.
2. Identify your love style — Understand how past wounds shape your responses.
3. Seek biblical counsel — A pastor, Christian counselor, or mentor can help guide you.
4. Commit to healing — Even if your spouse isn’t ready, you can start making healthy changes.
5. Get into community — Healing happens faster when you’re not isolated.

Bible Verses for Healing & Restoration

• Isaiah 41:10 — “Do not fear, for I am with you… I will strengthen you and help you.”
• Matthew 11:28–30 — “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
• John 16:33 — “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You Are Not Beyond Hope

Betrayal is devastating — but it doesn’t have to be the end of your story. God can take the messiest situation and bring beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3).

If you’re ready to begin again, ask Him to heal your heart, transform your love style, and teach you to love as He loves.

📍 Join us: Sunday mornings at 71 Congress Street, Bradford, PA
🔗 Plan your visit: Open Arms Community Church Visit Page

Resources

How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich

Language of Love Part 1: How We Love

Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA

We’re beginning a brand-new series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA called Language of Love.
Last month in our Restoring the Soul series, we explored how God heals the deep places of our hearts—areas like forgiveness, fear, and spiritual deliverance.

But God’s work in us isn’t meant to stop with personal healing. His plan is that the love and restoration we receive from Him would flow into our relationships with others. This first message, How We Love, invites us to examine where our love style comes from, how it affects our relationships, and how God can transform it.

When Did You First Experience Comfort?

Think back to your earliest memories. Can you remember a time when, as a child, you were comforted—not for a physical injury, but for an emotional wound?

For many people, that’s a difficult question to answer. Research from Milan and Kay Yerkovich, authors of How We Love, shows that 75% of adults can’t recall a single memory of receiving comfort from a primary caregiver in childhood. That lack of comfort shapes how we relate to others for the rest of our lives.

Some of us may have grown up in loving homes but still never learned to express emotional needs. Others grew up in dysfunction or trauma, where comfort was absent altogether. Without healthy models for emotional connection, we look for comfort in all the wrong places—friends, romantic relationships, achievements—only to come up empty.

God’s Design for Comfort and Connection

From the very beginning, God designed us for deep, secure relationships—with Him and with one another.

In Genesis 2, we see God’s intimate connection with Adam:

• He formed Adam with His own hands.
• He breathed life into him.
• He gave Adam purpose—to work and care for the garden.
• He gave boundaries for protection.
• And He gave Adam a partner—Eve—as a “strong helper” (Hebrew: ezer kenegdo), equal in value and united in purpose.

This was God’s perfect plan: intimacy without shame, mutual care, and unconditional trust.

When Sin Entered the Picture

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command. With sin came shame, fear, and hiding. Instead of turning toward God, they covered themselves and avoided Him. Instead of mutual care, relationships became marked by control, domination, and mistrust.

We still live with those consequences today. Many of us hide behind “fig leaves”—walls we put up so others won’t see our shame or vulnerability. And those walls block both our relationships with people and our relationship with God.

Why Love Styles Matter

Every one of us develops a love style—a pattern for how we connect (or avoid connecting) with others—based largely on the comfort and connection we did or didn’t receive as children.

Some have a secure love style—comfortable with both giving and receiving love. Many others develop avoidant, ambivalent, or chaotic styles that make intimacy and trust difficult.

The good news?
God is the ultimate secure connector.
Through Jesus, we can unlearn unhealthy patterns and begin to love the way God intended—freely, sacrificially, and without fear.

Love as God Intended

1 Corinthians 13 paints the picture:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

This isn’t just a description of God’s love—it’s a command for us to love in the same way. When we surrender our broken patterns to Him, He teaches us how to:

• Recognize and voice our needs.
• Forgive quickly and fully.
• Set healthy boundaries.
• Choose connection over isolation.

We can’t change our past, but we can choose a new way forward—one shaped by God’s perfect love.

Are You Ready to Heal?

Whether your brokenness shows up in marriage, friendship, or family relationships, the path to healing begins the same way:

• Acknowledge your need for comfort.
• Bring your wounds to God.
• Allow Him to send safe, loving people into your life.

You don’t have to live stuck in the cycle of fear, hiding, or mistrust. Jesus has already paid the price to restore your relationship with God and equip you to love others well.

Bible Study Guide – How We Love

Scriptures to Read

• Genesis 2:7–25 – God’s design for intimacy and connection
• Genesis 3:1–13 – How sin introduced shame and hiding
• 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 – The true definition of love
• John 15:9–13 – Remaining in God’s love
• 1 John 4:18–19 – Perfect love drives out fear

Reflection & Discussion Questions

1. Can you remember a time in your childhood when you received emotional comfort? How has that shaped the way you relate to others?
2. What “fig leaves” do you tend to hide behind when you feel shame or fear?
3. How have you seen sin create separation in your relationships—with God or with others?
4. Which parts of 1 Corinthians 13 are most challenging for you to live out right now? Why?
5. How does knowing God is a “secure connector” encourage you to trust Him with your relationships?
6. What’s one step you can take this week to offer comfort to someone else in a Christlike way?

At Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, our desire is to see people find hope, healing, and purpose through Jesus Christ. If you’re navigating broken relationships or longing to experience God’s comfort for the first time, we’d love to walk with you.