When I was a teenager, I remember how my dad would trust me.
Say I was sixteen and I was complaining about how my dad didn’t trust me (a common thing for sixteen-year-olds). Dad’s respond would often be, “O but son, I do trust you, I trust you to be sixteen.”
I never came up with a good comeback for that answer.
My dad is a wise man and I’ve learned to follow his example when it comes to trusting people.
For example…
- If trust truly has to be earned, then opportunity has to be given. Don’t expect people to earn your trust at someone else’s expense; you give them the opportunity. This will require risk. If you’re not willing to take a risk on someone don’t go into any kind of leadership or managerial position, or have friends, get married and, most certainly, don’t have children! Live alone, work alone, be alone.
- Total trust is never the issue (unless we’re talking about God). Don’t be a cynic and hold people at arm’s length because they have flaws. We all have flaws. The art of management is balancing the level of risk with the level of trust. Trust people as far as you can and show them the pathway for gaining more trust. That’s the art of good management, pastoring, or parenting, or just being a good friend.
The ONE THING for today: Just like my dad didn’t trust me to be a mature man, but was willing to trust me to be the best sixteen-year-old I could be, start where people are and build from there.
The ONE THING 