Learning Who To Trust
As a follower of Christ, I am called to express the love of Christ to everyone. I am to forgive those who sin against me, even if they never ask for my forgiveness. In fact, I am to pray for my enemies. All of these things are the opposite of what everyone else in the world would do. However, I am not ever commanded to trust everyone. If I trust people who are not trustworthy, I will not get the results I thought I would get. Just because I think well of another person and hope they will do what I have believed they would do, does not mean it will happen.
If a person has not matured to the point that they have a solid character with core values that are based on truth and righteousness, it is a mistake to trust him. A person who is inconsistent and lives for immediate gratification will not be trustworthy. A person who does not believe in absolute right and wrong is a person who will justify doing the wrong thing in certain situations. That could leave you high and dry if you trusted him. A self-centered person, who just wants to make money, should not be trusted. Trust depends on the object of the trust being willing and able to hold up their end of the deal.
Please, don't think that I am saying not to give folks a chance to show they are able to be trusted. On the contrary, at first we do have to trust people to find out what will happen. Once they have failed to be trustworthy, we need to take that into consideration before we trust them again. Of course, we can give them a second chance, but we should consider if their character has changed or not. Many of our troubles in life come when we decide to trust the wrong person. We must look for mature character and the right skills for the responsibility we are asking from them. If they don't have that, we are hurting ourselves and others by trusting them to do something which they are probably not going to do or do it correctly.
God can and does change people all of the time. When He saves us, we become a new creation in Christ. We have the Spirit to guide us. The question is not about God's ability to change people. Character is only built when we apply ourselves to listen to the truth and incorporate it into our lives. We know what we should do, but do we do it? Often, that is the difference between a trustworthy person and a person who will let you down if you trust him with something.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Hosea 3-5.
If a person has not matured to the point that they have a solid character with core values that are based on truth and righteousness, it is a mistake to trust him. A person who is inconsistent and lives for immediate gratification will not be trustworthy. A person who does not believe in absolute right and wrong is a person who will justify doing the wrong thing in certain situations. That could leave you high and dry if you trusted him. A self-centered person, who just wants to make money, should not be trusted. Trust depends on the object of the trust being willing and able to hold up their end of the deal.
Please, don't think that I am saying not to give folks a chance to show they are able to be trusted. On the contrary, at first we do have to trust people to find out what will happen. Once they have failed to be trustworthy, we need to take that into consideration before we trust them again. Of course, we can give them a second chance, but we should consider if their character has changed or not. Many of our troubles in life come when we decide to trust the wrong person. We must look for mature character and the right skills for the responsibility we are asking from them. If they don't have that, we are hurting ourselves and others by trusting them to do something which they are probably not going to do or do it correctly.
God can and does change people all of the time. When He saves us, we become a new creation in Christ. We have the Spirit to guide us. The question is not about God's ability to change people. Character is only built when we apply ourselves to listen to the truth and incorporate it into our lives. We know what we should do, but do we do it? Often, that is the difference between a trustworthy person and a person who will let you down if you trust him with something.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Hosea 3-5.