When you place your TRUST in someone, you're confirming your confidence in their integrity, ability & character. That is not a light thing. In fact, when you give someone your trust, you are giving them a very close space near your heart...an area that is tender & willingly open. For trust to continue, there must be a sacred covenant of loyalty & an internal decision not to misuse that trust.
One example: As a pastor/minister, when I stand in someone else's pulpit...I realize that I am there by invitation & given latitude to operate in my gifts & abilities for the glory of God & the good of those who have placed their trust in me. I am careful to operate in proper alignment with the leadership of the house & not to assume that I can just "take my liberty", because of the anointing (empowerment to serve) I sense. I always bare in mind that I am invited to function in my calling & gift in divine alignment with the angel of the house. I don't "freestyle" or "pull rabbits out of hats" when I have the mic. Trust has been placed in me either through relational equity or experience, to carry the continuity of the house...being mindful of the climate & culture of the house while fulfilling my assignment.
I have seen trust trampled on because of showmanship & personal desire. Sadly, when you can no longer trust a person to operate in proper protocol, you can no longer ENTRUST them with responsibility. To entrust means to give over (something) to another for care, protection or performance.
Basically, there are two kinds of people who seek to be in a relationship with you: 1) Those who want what's in your heart. 2) Those who want what's in your hand. You have to discern the difference. It's one thing for you to enter into people's lives...but another to entrust your life to them.
One way that I've learned to gauge trust is in the way someone talks to me about someone else. If they reveal entrusted secrets to you & you still entrust them with your secrets...you're just asking for heartbreak.
Years ago, someone I trusted spoke negatively to me about a mutual friend. I was rather shocked, not at the things they were trying to allude to in a negative connotation, but because I knew this person they were talking bad about had been very good to them & I too held that person in high regard. I didn't immediately pull back my trust in this person, but I watched the way they operated from that point forward & eventually knew that I couldn't carry the same level of relationship with them as I had before. I realized that if they talked about someone else to me...they would talk about me to someone else, too.
Now, don't get me wrong. I believe in repentance, restoration & plenty of "second chances”. I've extended many olive branches in my life & I've also had olive branches extended to me, as well. I believe in graceful relationships. I believe that we should see the best in one another...be honest & forthright with one another...not seek to plot someone's downfall with hearsay, secret meetings, plots & schemes. Thankfully, those things backfire on people who live like that. It is ALWAYS best to talk with a person face-to-face, rather than to believe what's being said about them. True covenant relationship is, "I will talk with you...not about you."
Once trust is broken, it's difficult to recover it. However, it can be recovered through the help of The Lord. It might be a marriage relationship, ministry relationship, employee/employer relationship, etc. God is able to restore all things.
To be trusted is a big deal. To be loved & trusted is a great responsibility. Manage both well.
