For Students: Years to Earn, Seconds to Break!!

It takes a lot of time to build trust and at the same time trust can be destroyed in seconds.  The truth is everyone wants to be able to trust someone and at the same time be trusted.  It's a rewarding feeling for parents when they feel that their child can be super truthful with them.  Just think for a second on how you feel about a friend who is untrustworthy vs. a friend you can trust.  You will unhesitatingly put your friend on a "I can't believe anything you say list" or end the friendship if you couldn't trust them.  On the other hand if this friend could be trusted with anything, they wouldn't just be your friend, but they would probably be your close-friend.  

A lot of times people think trust is built when you are truthful about the big things which often times can't be hidden anyways. I would suggest that telling the truth when it can't be hidden isn't building trust. Trust is built when you are truthful about the stuff that can be hidden.  Speak truthfully about things that might not always be easy for you or tell the truth even when there's a possibility of a negative response.  Telling the whole truth instead of making excuses.  Those are some of the ways trust is built.  Your parents would love to be able to say, "Wow! Whether my child makes a mistake or not they will tell me the truth".  Just as you would love to be able to say about your friend, "I can always count on them to be honest and truthful with me no matter what".  If your parents can feel like they can trust you in the small things, they won't question the large things.

  Luke 16:10(NIV)   
¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

A few takeaways I got from this verse Luke 16:10:

• Be trustworthy and honest in the little things because that's where it counts.
• Being dishonest is a progressive behavior.  It actually gets worse.  If you allow it to affect the little things it will definitely affect the large things.   
• Being trustworthy is a progressive behavior.  It can improve your life, relationships and generally just the way people perceive you as a person in the small and big things. 

Proverbs 12:19(NLT)

 ¹⁹ Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed. 

A few takeaways I got from this verse Proverbs 12:19:

• In the end, truth will prevail so just be truthful!
• Being dishonest will only last for a season.
• You can only lie for so long before the truth exposes you.  Dishonesty is like a tornado.  It starts small then it gets bigger and strong before it's over.  The length of time the tornado has determines how much can be damaged.  The question is how much will you allow it to destroy?!?    

The same steps used to build trust are the same steps used to re-build it.  If given the chance to re-build trust being truthful and being super transparent must be a huge priority for you.  Regardless of whether you're on the end of building or re-building trust, keep in mind that it will always cost you more to be dishonest.  So be just as trustworthy to others as you would want them to be to you.  It's a huge part of any relationship that both parties involve are trustworthy.

If you have great trusting relationships please keep them pure of dishonesty.  If you've already breached the trust factor in a relationship of yours, it's never to late to rebuild. I would love to point you to great resources. You can email me at ac@saddleback.com.

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hope it helps!!
ac