Let Go - Part 8 - Trust is Everything
May 22, 2024
    Let Go - Trust is Everything – Part 8
  • Trust can be a funny thing. Many say they trust their spouse, but how many marriages fall into bitterness, anger, frustration, and/or complete destruction because of a failure(s) of trust.
      • The truth is that trust can be complicated because everyone has their own version of it.
      • Too often, trust is assumed and not properly communicated.
      • Trust is often mixed with love.
          • You love me so you should trust me - I can love you, but not trust you.
          • Simultaneously, you can have relationships in which you trust someone without love.

    The Parable of the Talents:
  • A man gives 3 servants a truly special gift. Other than Jesus, your marriage is your greatest gift/asset.
  • What are you going to do with it?
  • Jesus teaches us to be faithful over what He has given us.
      • He says “You were faithful over little”.
      • Too often, we only see trustworthiness as staying faithful over the big things- affairs, abuse, secrets, etc.
          • Trust is often lost in the little things
          • Faithful over little, I will make you ruler over much.

  • I view faithfulness and trust as the lanes of a freeway.
      • We have lanes to keep order.
      • When everyone stays in their proper lane, or even switches while under control, we get where we need to go.
      • The lanes are the boundaries!
          • Too many relationships, particularly marriages, degrade over time because we don’t have agreed-upon boundaries, or we have gone outside the boundary.

    How do we maintain and/or repair trust?
    1. Trust must be protected at all costs.
        • This goes for marriages, at work with your boss, in raising kids, with friends, etc.…

    2. Past issues should never be present in punishment.
        • We call it “trust issues”.
            • Isaiah 43:18 - Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old, behold I will do a new thing.
        • 2 Thoughts:
            • God can’t fully do a new thing in your life if you are hanging onto the past.
            • Don’t destroy the new thing God is doing (or has done) by bringing the past into the present.
            • Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart…

    3. Rebuilding trust takes time.
        • Quite often, it takes a significant amount of time longer to rebuild trust than it did to tear it down.

    4. Both partners must have an equal commitment to the relationship.
        • Healthy Relationships are not, 50-50, or any other weird percentage breakdown.
            • In good relationships, it’s 100%, 100%.

    5. Repairing trust only happens with real and sincere repentance.
        • Remember, repentance is not just saying sorry. Real repentance is saying sorry and changing behavior.
        • Here are the steps of repentance:
              1. Confess the truth
              2. Reverse the behavior
              3. Discover how you got to the point you are at
              4. Express genuine sorrow