No TRUST-passing

My two girls love to draw, doodle and journal. Our house is filled with little notebooks and binders. Today there was one sitting on the floor in the family room. I was doing a little straightening (I was tempted to call it cleaning up, but I actually only picked up four things).

As I picked up the notebook, I opened it to the front to see who the proper owner was. Here’s what I read:

This Diary belongs to the one and only [my daughter’s name in all caps]
Do not open uness permetted
No TRUST-passing

It’s really cute. And as I thought about what she wrote it hit me. When Jesus taught us to pray He mentioned us asking God to forgive our trespasses and to help us forgive those who trespass against us. I think my daughter is on to something here – when we trespass the real issue is we have TRUST-passed. We’ve done or said something that breaks the other person’s ability to Trust us. When we go against God, we’ve broken Trust. When others trespass against us – they’ve broken our Trust.

So, how do we get back on track? We must rebuild Trust. This can be a lot more difficult then we may first realize. When I break a trust with a friend, it’s natural that when something else even seems a little off – well, they will wonder, “Can I really trust him?” This is why it’s so important to maintain trust in our relationships – because it’s so easy to lose, and when we lose it we seem to lose it all.

Yet, God’s way of dealing with things is a bit different. He tells us if we admit we’ve blown it He’s faithful to totally forgive us. Wow! But then He reminds us that this is how He wants us to treat others – to forgive them. One thing I have learned is that when I forgive someone I begin to let them rebuild the trust. Trust doesn’t come back all at once, but until we are willing to forgive, it can’t come back at all.

So, be careful with others – work hard at not TRUST-pass against them. And when others TRUST-pass against you, learn to forgive and begin rebuilding the trust. And, thank God that He is willing to fully forgive us every time we ask Him to!

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