Trust and Forgiveness

Show me a relationship where there is mutual trust and I will show you a relationship where there are no unresolved issue lying dormant, readied as a weapon against the other when compromise is required between the two. As God’s creation we desire trusting relationships but like anything else that is worth having it requires discipline and continual effort, remember if this is where you are headed then you are going up stream in today’s culture. The problem with most living in this modern world is that we’ve become accustomed to so many conveniences that along with poor time management skills have caused us to choose the path of least resistance in almost every area of our lives including relationships. Therefore, if it doesn’t come together easily separation becomes the obvious alternative but long before that takes place trust between the two dissolves and forgiveness fades.

God causes us who have relationship with Him to work on these two things with those we share our home with, our work place, our churches, our schools, and all areas of our lives. How is it that we love God with our whole hearts yet struggle to love those we live with? It’s because when we fail and fall God holds us accountable AND He is faithful to forgive and because we have no doubt of His love for us we are bound to work on removing these things from our lives i.e. our own bad decisions because we can’t stand being separated from Him. Now if we truly love God He says we have to love others, even think of them before we think of ourselves but love is difficult and takes everything within us to keep it alive and well and everyone we come in contact with are broken and fail us many times over. God models what love is in the relationship we share with Him. One, He holds us accountable. He does not excuse our bad decisions or pretends not to notice. Two when He (the Holy Spirit) brings these things to our attention He doesn’t beat us over the head with it either but gently moves us toward repentance. Thirdly, when we admit our sin He is faithful to forgive us of it and He goes the extra mile by remembering it no more. That’s the difference between God’s conviction and man’s condemnation – once we confess it we are separated from it forever but condemnation will continue to beat on us long after we admit our guilt. If you have someone in your life that likes to keep bringing up the past then they either don’t know what forgiveness is or are unwilling to offer it and because of that there can be no trust between you two and until forgiveness happens any attempts at trust will only lead to further brokenness.

We are people and people are terribly complicated and instead of being black and white the principle of trust and forgiveness happens in shades of gray. I forgive you a little so I trust you a little. As I forgive you more I trust you more, the opposite is true as well. Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when in Matthew 7:3 He tells us to remove the log from our own eye before removing the splinter from our brother’s? It’s way too easy (once again the path of least resistance) to blame your brother for unforgiveness when you clearly have trust issues yourself. In the end the only person you can control is yourself and that is fine because when you stand before God’s throne of judgment the only person you have to answer for is yourself and on that day we all will be asked about our ability to love.