Trust is a virtue that is built by time and experience. It is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. It is the confidence in the honesty and integrity of a person. Trust is that virtue that can bind you deeply to someone. It makes you feel a bond with them, but when the trust is broken it changes everything about the relationship. In life, there is only one person you can trust with everything, and that is Jesus. He knows more about you than you know about yourself, yet He still loves you beyond measure. However, God wants us to build a trusting relationship with others, and He wants us to be trustworthy, to be available to listen and help others without them fearing we will violate their trust. Trust is a valuable character trait we each should strive for.
This is a character trait that Paul saw in Timothy. In Philippians 2:19, we see Paul trusting Jesus to send Timothy to the Philippians. He believed it was Jesus that had placed them together, and He is the bond between them. Paul meets Timothy in either Derbe or Lystra as mentioned in Acts 16:1. Paul saw something in Timothy that was different from other men he was with. He chose to mentor Timothy to follow in his footsteps with the gospel.
When Paul writes the letter to the Philippians, he is in prison on house arrest and presently Timothy is with him. Their relationship had grown through time as friends, and Paul loved Timothy as a father loves a son. A great truth for us is bound in this verse. A friendship that is valuable to both parties must have a common anchor. For a Christian, that anchor is Jesus. You may and should, have many acquaintances that you are seeking to win to Christ, but a trustworthy friend must have the same core values anchored in the same place.
Philippians 2:19-22 “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”
Act 16:1-3 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him;”
Timothy had proven himself to Paul and the Philippians. He was with Paul when the church was founded. Therefore, he had a deep interest in the welfare of the church. Paul trusted Timothy to treat the church as he would treat them, to answer questions from the believers the way that he would answer them, and to settle issues with the same sincerity that he would.
How do we become a Timothy? How do we become someone that others trust enough to open their lives to us, to share their disappointments with us, all without fear of us sharing it as gossip? How can we be trustworthy enough for others to trust us to do a job the way they would do it, as Paul did Timothy? First, we must place our trust completely in God. We learn from the author of trust. We see how the saints of old, Abraham, Noah, Daniel, and others trusted God, and He never failed them. When we learn and experience trust in God, we understand what others need from us. We are to be dependable. If we say we will do something, we do it. When we trust in God, we will not give them answers based on our opinions, but we will give them answers from the word of God. God’s answers are always trustworthy, He is always right and wants what is best for us, even when we can’t see it. Becoming a trustworthy person means spending time with God, praying for those who trust in us, and making time for others. We are to become trustworthy people by emulating the character of God to the greatest extent possible. By doing this we not only become trustworthy people, but we point them to the one they can place all their trust in.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
As human beings, we will fail in the department of trust. It may be that we say we will do something and forget or neglect it because it isn’t important to us. We may say something to someone else divulging confidence placed in us. How do we fix this situation? We don’t make excuses but repent of it as sin. When we repent, we are turning away from the sin and seeking God to help us not to do it again. However, in the department of trust, we must understand that it takes a long time to build trust, but one moment to destroy it. Therefore, we must be very careful to protect this virtue. It is of great value in the life of the believer.
