Read Proverbs 12:22 and Luke 16:10

Is it possible to regain someone’s trust after it has been lost?

I was coaching a varsity high school basketball game and it was a very close and competitive game. The other team scored a basket with five seconds left in the game but they were still behind by one point with the clock winding down. They were out of timeouts. My team did not even have to inbound the ball because the clock would run out. We would win. So, a player on the other team told the official that she had lost a contact lens out on the floor. So, the official stopped the clock with four seconds left in the game! Everyone looked for a contact lens on the floor for a few minutes. Guess what? Nobody found it. I learned later that the coach told his players to fake losing a contact lens in a situation like that to stop the clock.

Dishonesty and lying are like a tornado – a funnel-shaped cloud in a large storm system. It is mobile, destructive and can be violent. Have you ever seen one? When a tornado touches down, the devastation and damage can be immense. Property is destroyed, trees and bushes are broken, houses are leveled and cars are turned upside down. The lives of people are changed and lost in just a few moments. Be prepared. Stay calm! Go to the southwest corner of your basement. Get in a bathtub. Have a safe shelter for you and your family. Public schools have tornado drills every April “just in case” a tornado hits.

Dishonesty and lies may be worse. They are a pandemic: “prevalent over a whole country or the world.” (Oxford Dictionary). Lies are mobile, destructive and can result in violence like a tornado. The Bible says: “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.” (Proverbs 12:22).

Are you trustworthy? Can people rely on you to be trustworthy?

It takes time to develop trust from other people. You cannot do it quickly. You have to earn it by acting with integrity. This includes not lying or misleading people. It is how you act. It is intentional.

It is who you are!

Consider your daily actions. Consider the decisions you make on a daily basis. Are you trustworthy? Your best friends know if you are. Ask them.

“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.” – Luke 16:10

This verse is one of the most profound accurate statements I’ve ever heard. It is the responsibility of every follower of Christ to be trustworthy which is part of being a faithful and wise servant.

Trustworthiness is demonstrated through actions.

Tom Weckesser