In God I will praise his word,
in God I have put my trust;
I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Psalm 56:4
TRUST'INESS, noun [from trusty.] That quality of a person by which he deserves the confidence of others; fidelity; faithfulness; honesty; as the trustiness of a servant. (Websters 1828)
God is trustworthy. Among his other characteristics He is trustworthy. And He calls us to be trustworthy. To be the kind of person who others can put their trust in. By imitating Him in this area we bring glory to Him, and blessings to those around us: our employers, friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord, and family.
There is an issue with the word ‘trustworthiness’ that seems to be implied in the definition but seems sometimes missing in our discussions. Let me illustrate it with a quick definition:
A man is trustworthy if he says what he will do, and does what he said.
Now let us add to that definition the idea that the ‘saying’ may come from a repeated series of similar actions. Thus:
A man is trustworthy if you know what he will do.
Now let us add the idea that it is not mere certainty we are looking for, but good actions:
A man is trustworthy if we know that he will do the right thing.
But now let us go back to the first definition for a second to illustrate that part of what we packed into the later definitions is very important. The man who will be judged trustworthy must say what he is going to do. He must say it either with his words or his actions, but he must say it.
A man is not considered trustworthy who merely, from time to time, on some random schedule, does something good. Indeed the ‘something good’ may not be all that good if it is done on a random schedule. The man who says to you ‘we were all ready to have you for dinner last Friday: we killed the fatted calf, we set the table, we laid in musicians’… has not really done a good thing if he never actually sent the invitation!
A weatherman who gets the weather wrong is obviously not considered trustworthy. But the weatherman who merely puts up a blank screen every evening and says ‘I dunno’ while he may be better the one that gets the forecast wrong, not by much.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay:
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Matthew 5:37
God is trustworthy. He says what He will do and He does what He said. Moreover He acts consistently over time, leaving us able to trust in His future actions. And He calls us to be trustworthy: to say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘yes’… and not require an oath to make us perform.
We need to understand, as we try to imitate God in this area, that being trustworthy cannot be gained by degrees. It is a binary solution set. You must make a decision, communicate that decision, and then carry out that decision… in the time and fashion that you communicated.
Being trustworthy is not saying ‘sorry’ when you fail to carry out what you communicated. It is not saying ‘I hear what you’re saying’ to the person you let down. But above all it is not merely not communicating anything! It is saying what you will do… and doing it. Time and time again. Repeatedly.
When one fails, becoming trustworthy is gained by saying, “I did not do what I said I would do. I am now going to say what I will do, and do it.” Do that a hundred times and you will start to be trusted. You will be trustworthy.
Being trustworthy is a cycle. You say, you do. People see you carrying out your word and you not only get trusted, you see yourself as being trustworthy.
Contrariwise being untrustworthy is a cycle. You say, or you don’t say, and you don’t do. So nobody sees you as trustworthy.
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD.
He that sweareth to his own hurt,
and changeth not.
Psalm 15:4
Being trustworthy means following through even when it is difficult. It means eliminating the words ‘well, but’ from our vocabulary. When we say we will do a thing, we need to do it.
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Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books include:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
Arthur also has a substack, and a website.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von