To Trust and Be Trusted – Sunday, January 12, 1997
Were it not for trust, our society simply would not work. For, when we proceed from an assumption of mistrust, we become paralyzed by our doubts, by our cynicism, and suspicions. We end up wondering whom we can trust, in the whom we can confide, by whom we will be cared for.
Trust, on the other hand, provides us with a powerful motivation. We arise in the morning, confident that the sun will rise with us. We do our best in the workplace, hoping that our efforts will brin forth rewards. We enter into relationships, believing that we can share our lives with others in ways that will bring mutual satisfaction. We put our faith in God, giving ourselves over to His watchful care. All of this we do, believing that the overall benefits which come from trust far outweigh the occasional risks.
A sense of trust is basic to our sense of self. While keeping our egos in check, we must develop an appreciation of our own fundamental goodness, of our talents and abilities, of the contributions we make to the lives of family and friends. Years ago, before we could take our first steps, our parents had to help us gain confidence that our legs, however wobbly, would indeed, hold us up. As adults, we sometimes must give ourselves like encouragement if we are to keep moving forward through life.
As we move beyond ourselves – as we come in contact with strangers, co-workers, friends, and others – we ought to try, as best we can, to believe in the basic goodness of others. For, while there may be a few along the way who shake our confidence, most of those we meet deserve to be treated with trust rather than with doubt and disbelief.
Trust is especially important in our families. Without trust, there is little of openness, understanding, and acceptance. The educator and religious leader Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of this component as “the sacred obligation a husband and wife have to each other when the fragility and vulnerability and delicacy of the partner’s life is placed in the other’s keeping.”1 Such sensitivity is a sacred trust, indeed; but, in its absence, there will be too much of the rancor, discord, and strife that can tear a relationship apart. And, of course, trust must be extended – and accepted – in spite of the imperfections inherent in each of us.
Finally, trust is all-important in our relationship with our God. The holy writ is replete with the promise “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him”2 And, while the admonition to “Trust in the Lord…and lean not unto thine own understanding”3 may require a leap of faith that some find fearful, the Psalmist declares; “The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.”4 When our hearts are thus filled with trust, He will be there for us unfailingly, each and every time we turn to find Him.
1 Jeffrey R. Holland, However Long and Hard the Road (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), pp. 108-109.
2 Old Testament, Psalms 2:12
3 Old Testament, Proverbs 3:5
4 Old Testament Psalms 23:1
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January 12, 1997
Broadcast Number 3,517