WEEK 7: TRUST, TRUSTING, AND TRUSTWORTHINESS

If you look at your money, you can see "In God we trust"   Trust is essential for all healthy relationships.  Regardless of your experience with trusting other people, we can be trustworthy.  We can also take a risk to trust again in marriage and family relationships (this doesn't include true abusive or exploitive relationships which you should consult professional help for that situation).  This week we encourage you to focus on trusting in God, and being a trustworthy spouse and family member.

 

Videos on Trust


1.  A conference presentation, Dr Henry Cloud.  3.19 minutes

2.  Steven Covey on relationship trust and 13 behaviors of high trust people. 

3.  Dr. John Gottman on the psychology of trust

4.  Brene Brown on being vulnerable and facing our fears


 

Trust Activities


Play a family game throughout the week:

Use the phrase “Trustworthiness is transparent” and find as many other words in that phrase as you can.   

Readings about Trust


Focus on the following Scripture at some time during the day: 

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. I Cor. 13:4-8a (NIV) 

Read the following about renewing trust that has been broken:

Trust can be restored if broken: 

Trust is fluid, like a river. It flows based on how consistently it’s fed. It takes daily input to keep trust at a healthy level. When a spouse discloses a trust-breaking issue, trust dries up. To fill it again, the spouse must show trustworthiness through observable actions. 

The good news is that just as water can transform a dry creek into a flowing stream, restoring trust will eventually help build a thriving relationship. Over time, you and your spouse will experience moments of relief and refreshment. But it takes more than just a few weeks before that trust is replenished. Most often, it takes a number of years of trust-building work for a marriage to reach the point where a full and unwavering trust is in place. When this happens, it’s the result of investing in consistent accountability practices and heart-sharing through many transparent conversations. 

Adapted from material created for future publication in book form by Joann Condie, licensed professional counselor, with Geremy Keeton, marriage and family therapist, posted on focusonthefamily.com  

 

Read the following Sonnet by Shakespeare, and talk about how it describes trust, being trustworthy, and trustworthiness. 

Shakespeare Sonnet CXVI 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds 
Admit impediments. Love is not love 
Which alters when it alteration finds, 
Or bends with the remover to remove: 
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark 
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; 
It is the star to every wandering bark, 
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 
Within his bending sickle's compass come: 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 
If this be error and upon me proved, 
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 

 

Podcasts about Trust


1.  Smalley marriage radio podcast on discovering the DNA of your relationship.  Trust is a theme of the podcast.  46 minutes

2.  Sermon from Aug 21 at River Oak Church.  Trust in the Lord theme

3.  One of the byproducts of trauma is that you lose a sense of being able to trust your body. You begin to distrust your gut knowledge of what is true because the people around you question your reality. In today’s episode, Janet explains how this has played out in her life, past and present. 50 minutes

4.  Andy Stanley's leadership podcast on Trust in leadership.  20 minutes

Artwork on Trust

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