A man is not measured by who enters or exits his life. He is
not measured by the circumstances that surround him. He is measured by how he
faces those circumstances and by who he chooses to be regardless of others. The
hardest part about being trustworthy is in finding others who are equally
trustworthy
My son, Josiah is such a man. He is trustworthy. It is one of his greatest
qualities. He is trustworthy even, at time, to his own detriment. It makes him a hero to me.
Every man has his own measure of how he views himself and
others. That measure takes into
consideration the thoughts, feelings and expectations that are embedded in the
DNA of relationships. This means that a key factor in building relationships is
understanding the measure of others.
The closer your standard of measure, the greater strength
and depth you can foster in the relationship.
If the standard of measure has a
wide gap, here will be a limit to the level of relationship. Carry that relationship too far or too deep
and the separation found in that measure will bring disappointment and pain.
The Bible warns us about being “unequally yoked”. We tend to apply this to marriages and
relationships on the basis of faith and belief in God. I believe that this principle has much greater
meaning. Many people of faith, who believe in God, still have different priorities
and ideas about who or what is important in their lives.
A trustworthy man is slow to relate and to trust because
once he enters a relationship, he is all in. His loyalty runs deep. He also looks for the person on the other
side of that relationship to place the same level of value on that
relationship. He enters such relationships slowly because he knows that if that
measure is not “equally yoked”, there will be pain. A trust worthy man is often
he one who has the hardest time trusting because others do not share his value
of trust.
For such a man, and for all of us, the key is to learn how
to recognize the measure that others hold in their own lives. Once you can
identify that, you can develop an idea of the strength a relationship will
have. When you understand the priorities
of another person, you learn to anticipate and expect how that person will
respond. You develop an idea of what
level of strength and trust can apply to that relationship to keep it healthy.
To the trustworthy – never stop being trustworthy. It is a
rare quality in a person. Others will not understand it. They will even try to capitalize on your
loyalty. But in the end, there will be
those who enter your life who share the same values. Such are the relationships
of men like David and Jonathan, or James and John in the Bible. Their loyalty toward one another changed the
course of history.
To the trustworthy – you are a hero.
