Better TogetherSample

Here’s How to Become a Trustworthy Person

Trust is the emotional glue that draws you closer to your friends, your family, and your small group. Without trust, you’re never going to have the intimate relationship that God wants you to have. Teamwork without trust is impossible.

Proverbs 20:6 says, “Many people claim to be loyal, but it is hard to find a trustworthy person” (NCV). That was written thousands of years ago, and yet we have the same dilemma today: Who do you trust? How do you find a trustworthy person? More importantly, how do you become a trustworthy person so that people trust you?

1. You earn people’s trust by being consistent. The Bible says in Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (NIV). Today everybody wants to serve God in the obvious and showy ways. But God says you build trust by being faithful in little things. Even when no one is watching you, God is. He sees what you’re doing. And he says that if you’re faithful in little things, he will give you greater and greater responsibility.

2. You earn people’s trust by being confidential. People trust you when you can keep a secret. One of the rules for our small groups at Saddleback Church is that what is said in the group stays in the group. Your group trusts you to keep private whatever they share. Proverbs 11:13 says, “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”

3. You earn people’s trust by being close. You have to spend time with people in order to earn their trust. The Bible says, “Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble” (Proverbs 17:17 MSG). That implies proximity. Distance creates distrust. You don’t trust people you don’t know! So if you want people to trust you, you’ve got to spend time with them. Time creates trust.

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