Loyalty and Trust
Proverbs 20:6 Many proclaim themselves loyal, but who can find one worthy of trust?
The worst sort of betrayal is the betrayal of a friend or loved one. The more they mean to us, the more their betrayal hurts.
There are some people who, back a couple of decades ago, betrayed me deeply. Both of them were close to me and whilst I’ve forgiven them, that betrayal has left scars. It’s changed who I am. In a sense, with God’s help, it’s made me who I am.
And I’m sure that as you look back, you’ve experienced some terrible betrayals that wounded you deeply; betrayals that have left their scars on you too.
But let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a moment. Can I ask you, when have you betrayed someone to whom you should have remained loyal? In other words, based on your past history … how trustworthy are you?
Loyalty and trustworthiness are qualities that universally – without exception – people value. There’s not a single person on this planet, who doesn’t want loyal friends and family and co-workers around them – people they can trust.
So as someone who believes in Jesus I have to ask myself: am I that loyal person? Am I worthy of other people’s trust? And what about you?
Difficult questions, but they’re the right questions to be asking in this dog-eat-dog world, where trustworthiness and loyalty seem to be in increasingly short supply, where more and more people will turn around and stab you in the back, if that’s what they have to do to get what they want.
Many proclaim themselves loyal, but who can find one worthy of trust? (Proverbs 20:6)
It’s true isn’t it? Many people say that they’re loyal. Here in Australia where I live, almost forty percent of all marriages end up in divorce. So both parties, standing there at the proverbial alter, proclaimed themselves to be loyal … and yet almost half of those marriages end up falling apart.
It’s not a very encouraging statistic, is it?! But all along, as I said, loyalty and trustworthiness remain universally admired qualities.
So, pretty obviously then, if you want to have an impact on people’s lives, if you want to touch other people’s hearts, if you want them to be better people, have better lives because they’ve known you, then there’s one, simple way to do that.
Become deliberately, missionally, powerfully focussed on being someone that other people can trust. Be the person who’s loyal to them, even when they don’t deserve it. Be the person who, rather than criticising them and pulling them down, draws alongside and speaks the truth to them quietly, in love.
Because when you do that to them, you’ll be worth your weight in gold.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Blessed by this devotion?
Share it with a friend!
Respond