http:\/\/www.storyarts.org\/library\/aesops\/stories\/boy.html]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\nII. Samuel Johnson once pointed out, “We are inclined to believe those whom we do not\nknow because they have never deceived us.”\n
A. In a way its truth is a sad commentary that people tend to disappoint us.<\/p>\n B. The longer we know someone, the more distrustful we become because of what\nthey have done or not done.\n C. This is what is behind our lack of trust in politicians. We’ve caught them lying to\nus too many times\n
D. We don’t trust the media because many news reports contain falsehoods<\/p>\n E. Even the distrust in our police is root in a perception of unfairness. Whether\ndeserved or not, that perception is being encouraged among the general\npopulation.\n
III. The lacking principle is trustworthiness – Luke 16:10-12<\/p>\n A. Being trusted isn’t a matter of accuracy at this moment, but the reliability you\naccumulated during the past.\n
B. Too many expect trust as a right <\/p>\n
1. “Don’t you trust me?” is commonly asked by teenagers<\/p>\n 2. The answer most often is “No,” but we’re usually too polite to put it so\nbluntly\n
C. Have you shown yourself reliable in the past?<\/p>\n 1. Why would I expect a person who is often late to be on time for a critical\nmeeting?\n 2. Why would I expect the truth from someone willing to lie if he thinks it\nwill benefit him or achieve a desired goal?\n 3. Or, worse, how can I trust someone who lies because it’s “fun” to\nmanipulate others?\n
D. Are you undertaking something new for which you have not established a record?<\/p>\n 1. This is always the issue with teens who want to go to a late night party or\nwho demand the right to spend time alone with someone of the opposite\nsex\n
2. They want trust for something they haven’t dealt with — sexual urges.<\/p>\n
IV. The character of a Christian is one worthy of trust<\/p>\n
A. In business<\/p>\n
1. Stewards are required to be faithful – I Corinthians 4:2<\/p>\n
2. Not just when someone is looking – Ephesians 6:5-8<\/p>\n
3. God cannot tolerate a dishonest business man – Proverbs 11:1<\/p>\n
B. In marriage<\/p>\n
1. A component of love is a love for truth – I Corinthians 13:4-8<\/p>\n
2. Marriage is covenant to be kept – Malachi 2:13-16<\/p>\n
C. In conversation<\/p>\n
1. Faithful in word, in conversation – I Timothy 4:12<\/p>\n
2. Letting your yes and no mean what you say – James 5:12<\/p>\n
3. Does not change, even when it is detrimental to himself – Psalm 15<\/p>\n
D. In service to God<\/p>\n
1. Faithful men – II Timothy 2:2<\/p>\n
2. Another name for Christian is the faithful – Colossians 1:2<\/p>\n
3. The faithful servant – Matthew 24:45-47<\/p>\n
4. Jesus rules over the faithful – Revelation 17:14<\/p>\n
V. The Lord your God is faithful<\/p>\n
A. He proved His faithfulness in keeping His promises – Hebrews 10:23<\/p>\n
B. He has shown us His steadfastness – Hebrews 6:17-19<\/p>\n
C. We can commit our lives to Him – I Peter 4:19<\/p>\n
D. His children should do the same<\/p>\n
1. Be faithful in all things – III John 5<\/p>\n
2. Be faithful for life – Revelation 2:10<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: Psalm 15 I. It has occurred to me that a core problem in our society is that we don’t trust anyone. A. Anyone trust the politicians? What about the news media? B. For some there is now a lack of trust of the police. C. What is behind this lack of trust? D. I’m sure you heard Aesop’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[256,129,441],"class_list":["post-23187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-faithful","tag-trust","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50688,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/placing-trust\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":0},"title":"Placing Trust","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Alan Feaster","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24856,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-my-girlfriend-see-a-guy-who-has-been-flirting-with-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":1},"title":"Should my girlfriend see a guy who has been flirting with her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend has been friends with a guy for around the same length of time that I've known her. Recently, he said that he wanted to travel across the country to visit her. What makes us unsure if this is right or not is that for around a year,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/they-caused-the-people-to-trust-in-a-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":2},"title":"They Caused the People to Trust in a Lie","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-i-trust-anyone\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":3},"title":"Why can’t I trust anyone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I trust you are well. I am OK in the Lord and my spiritual life is cool now that I have the joy of the Lord and am back to my first love. All the evil desires are gone and I am rejoicing in the newfound peace. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trusting-people-who-lost-your-trust\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":4},"title":"Trusting People Who Lost Your Trust","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Love covers a multitude of sins, but does love require you to let yourself get burned over and over? Love is goodwill, wanting good things for the other person, but love does not mean we have to be vulnerable to people who prove themselves to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88274,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/credit\/","url_meta":{"origin":23187,"position":5},"title":"Credit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores When I was a much younger man, I wrecked my credit. I made foolish decisions, borrowed more than I should have, and made late payments. Soon, the only ones who would lend me money were the high-rate lenders, and even they were wary. It took years to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}