The Swamidass Sez

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Highest Praise


Trust: Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

For sometime now, I have considered the words "I trust you" to be the highest compliment anyone can give. In fact, I would much rather have someone say to me, "I trust you" than, "You are so talented" (if anyone actually thought that). If I have a person's trust, their confidence is in me, not just my abilities or possessions. Even the adage, "Its not what you know, but who you know" indicates that most people prefer to work with those they trust and know rather than simply someone who is skilled.

Who is trustworthy? Someone who keeps commitments. Someone who does not deceive. Someone who does right whether seen or unseen. In other words, someone who says what they mean and does what they say.

Ultimately, if trust is the highest praise, God wants our trust also:


Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
- Jesus, John 14:1

So for God or man, trust is a great honor to those who receive it.

posted by Vijay Swamidass at 11:50 AM

1 Comments:

  • Your post made me immediately think of something someone I know once said, "I'd rather be respected than liked."

    Though the two are not always mutually exclusive, they do, at times, diverge. It is the case that people I respect can certainly do things that in that moment go against my own sensibilities (and in that moment I do not like them), and then upon greater reflection I find that I must ultimately agree with them, and that the issue was with my own perspective or my own heart. Of course, this is not always so, but I am afraid that in our culture today we too often stop with the fact that we think we do not like that person because of something they have said or done (or because of their "personality") and do not take the additional step of introspection to ask ourselves "WHY is it that I have such a strong reaction to this person? Could it possibly be that something in me needs to change?"

    It seems to me that this is exactly the problem Christ encountered in His earthly ministry. Everyone had a reaction to him. One difference in those people was whether or not they chose to simply react and judge or whether they were able to see themselves for who they really were.

    And then there's God. . . He has not ever acted toward His people with the objective of them liking Him. In fact, there are many things about who He is that many find "offensive."

    All that to say that stating that we trust someone may indeed be the highest compliment, but it goes hand in hand with "I respect you."

    Thanks for making me think . . . "Do people respect me?Do people trust me?"

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 11:04 AM  

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