There are so many elements to every day relationships and they all are foundationalised by trust. Every marriage is trust that your partner is going to abide by the Covenant that you've made with them, that they'll be faithful. Every relationship we pour into, aren't we saying making a statement of faith that you trust that they're worthy of investing in?
Trust is defined as :
firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something
Maybe that differs from faith in that you can have a belief in the future reliability of someone that isn't currently trustworthy, that your faith is that someday they will become trustworthy.
Over the past year or so I have been thinking about how many people I have given my trust to, who did not deserve it or treated it as inconsequential . I've thought a lot about what loyalty means, and having people in your life that do not break your trust.
You cannot trust the sycophants because they'll tell you only what they think you want to hear and they lack character, those lacking character are not loyal, those not loyal cannot be trustworthy.
You cannot trust a liars because they're only about putting themselves above the truth, avoiding accountability
A friend of mine who is something of a casual believer is dating a man who is an atheist. My friend reached out to me and asked if we could meet up, just the three of us, to discuss some of the mans objections to faith. I am all for this, because in good faith, I am equipped to answer reasonable common objections to faith in effort to gain a lost brother as we all should be. When we met up I listened to a few of the surface questions that were really in line with a misplaced focus rather than objections in of themselves, until we got to one specific point: Travesties done by people that claimed to be believers. I kept underscoring over and over and over again about how even though there have been men and women who have claimed to represent the Truth of the Bible who have conducted immeasurable evils, this does not negate the FACT that the Bible is True regardless. If I tell people that I am a toaster and start huffing on a piece of bread, and then someone starts reading an actual toaster manual they would see that I am not a toaster and that the manual is correct and useful for a real toaster. The thing that stood out to me most was the idea that those proclaiming to be believers have broken the trust of someone who may have been looking for genuine faith (maybe).
I think about how Trust is at the core of God. Truth. What is real.
I think about this passage:
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” - Matt 12
Christ pointing to Trust, Loyalty, Faithfulness, Dependability.
I think about those that I have given my trust to, who have taken me for granted. I think of those who I have extended courtesy and allowed them to trade on my name only to have them shrug all my efforts off, all my sacrifice to nothing, all my expense as worthlessness. I can only imagine how God feels when we do that to His trust.
A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, But a man of understanding draws it out. Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy man? -Proverbs 20
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