What It Takes to Become a Trustworthy Person
Most of us want to be trusted. But trust is built through small, unspectacular decisions made when no one is watching. In this episode, discover what Luke 16 says about how character is built, and where it actually starts.
Most of us want to be trusted. But trust is built through small, unspectacular decisions made when no one is watching. In this episode, discover what Luke 16 says about how character is built, and where it actually starts.
In 2019, a team of researchers spread out across 40 countries and dropped 17,000 wallets in banks, hotels, and public offices. Each wallet had cash inside, ranging from nothing to about $94 in local currency. Then the researchers went away and waited to see who would call.
The finding surprised almost everyone: the more money in the wallet, the more likely the finder was to return it. The finders who stood to gain the most were the ones most likely to give it back. The researchers' conclusion was plain. Most people don't want to see themselves as thieves. When the stakes got high enough, keeping the money meant something about who you are.
This episode is about that moment, the private choice nobody sees, and what it's building.
Trust is built in the small moments nobody applauds. The commitment you keep when the other person wouldn't have known you'd broken it. The decision you make when you're alone and the easier path is right there. None of those moments feel significant on their own. But they're adding up to something, and the people in your life are paying more attention than you think.
When I was starting out in pastoral ministry, a mentor told me there are 2 extremes pastors fall into: those who overwork and wear themselves out, and those who coast and never give the people God called them to serve what those people deserve. He said the path between them was faithfulness: care for people consistently, and never do anything that breaks the trust they've placed in you. Build it through the work nobody applauds. That word stayed with me for decades.
Luke 16:10-12 is where Jesus makes this plain. The person faithful with small things will be faithful with large ones. The way you handle what's in front of you when no one's checking is the way you'll handle what matters when everyone is. Trust grows from the accumulated record of small decisions made in private, long before anyone was paying attention.
Through the wallet study and Luke 16:10-12, this episode makes the case that becoming a trustworthy person happens through a thousand small choices nobody ever recognizes. The dramatic moment of integrity is a test of what was already there.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
- What a 17,000-wallet study across 40 countries reveals about how character is built before the test arrives
- What Jesus means in Luke 16:10-12 when He connects faithfulness in small things to being trusted with large ones
- One concrete action you can take this week to build trust in the area where you've been letting it slide
Every small decision is building something. The person you're becoming, God already sees.
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In 2019, a team of researchers spread out across 40
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countries and started handing wallets to strangers. They'd
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walk up to a bank teller or a hotel clerk, say they were in a
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hurry and needed someone to take care of it and hand the wallet
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over. Inside, a business card with an email address, a grocery
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list, a key, and varying amounts of cash ranging from nothing to
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the local equivalent of about $94. Then the researchers went
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away and waited. They dropped 17,000 wallets in all, and when
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the results came in from 38 of the 40 countries, the finding
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surprised almost everyone who heard it. The more money in the
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wallet, the more likely the finder was to contact the owner
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and return it. The finders who stood to gain the most were the
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ones most likely to give it back. What the researchers concluded
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was this, most people don't want to see themselves as thieves.
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When the amount was small enough that keeping it felt like
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nothing, some people did. But once the number got big enough,
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something changed. To keep it would mean something about who
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you are. We'll come back to what that tells us in a moment. But
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first,
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welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Léger.
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When I was just starting out in pastoral ministry, a mentor told
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me something I've never forgotten. He said there are two
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extremes many pastors fall into. Some overwork and wear
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themselves out. Others coast. Never giving the people God
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called them to serve what those people deserve. He said the path
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between them was faithfulness. Care for people consistently and
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never do anything that breaks the trust they've placed in you.
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Build it through the work nobody sees and nobody applauds. And
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that word stayed with me. And I've tried to live by it for
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decades. And I've found that it's as true for every person as
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it is for a pastor. Because most of us want to be trusted. The
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question is how trust gets built. Because most people have a vague
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idea that it involves being dependable, but they've never
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thought carefully about what it looks like day to day. Here's
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what Jesus says about it in Luke chapter 16, verses 10 through 12.
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If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in
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large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you
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won't be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are
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untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with
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the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with
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other people's things, why should you be trusted with the
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things of your own? Jesus is making a plain observation about
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how character works. The way you handle small things is the way
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you handle large things. The person who cuts corners when the
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stakes are low will cut them when the stakes are high. And
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the person who keeps their word when it costs them nothing will
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keep it when it costs them something. Trust is built in the
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small moments that nobody sees. The commitment you keep when the
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other person wouldn't have known you'd broken it. The decision
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you make when you're alone and the easier path was right there.
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None of those moments feel significant on their own, but
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they're adding up to something. Every one of them is either
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building your character or chipping away at it. And the
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people around you are paying more attention than you think.
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Here's what I found in years of pastoral ministry. People know.
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They may not be able to put it into words, but over time, the
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people in your life develop a sense of whether you mean what
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you say.
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They've noticed whether you follow through on the small
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things. And that accumulated observation is what trust is
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built from. There's no really single dramatic moment that
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produces it. The wallet study found the same thing from a
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different angle. The people who returned those wallets weren't
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doing it because someone was watching. They were doing it
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because of who they were trying to be. Their sense of themselves
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as honest people was worth more to them than the money. The
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character had already been built before that moment arrived. And
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that's what Jesus is describing in Luke 16. The person trusted
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with greater things is the person who was faithful with
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small things long before anyone was paying attention. Now let's
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get back to the wallets. The wallet study was measuring
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something most of us already know on the inside, but what we
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do when nobody's watching says something who we are becoming.
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The people who returned the wallets weren't being observed.
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Nobody was going to reward them or call them trustworthy in
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front of a crowd. They had a moment alone with someone else's
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money and a choice to make.
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Trust grows through small decisions made in private when
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the easier path was right there and no one would have known the
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difference. Every one of those moments is building something.
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The person you're becoming. God already sees. Here's today's
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challenge. Name one area of your life where you've been cutting
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corners on the small things. Where you've been less faithful
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than you want to be if someone were watching. You don't have to
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confess it to anyone but God. Name it and then make one change
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this week. Keep the commitments you've been letting slide. Do
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the small things you've been skipping. That's where the trust
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starts in the unglamorous that feel like they don't matter.
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Lord, you see the small moments we think nobody notices. You see
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the choices we make when the stakes feel low and no one else
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is watching. Help us be the people who mean what we say and
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do what we say will do because you made us for that. Build it
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into us one small decision at a time. In Jesus' name, amen. This
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podcast is listener supported. If Daily Devotions for Busy
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Lives has been an encouragement to you, would you consider
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giving a one-time gift or, even better, becoming a monthly
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supporter? You can give at dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
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slash support. Thank you. And thanks for joining me on Daily
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Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, trust is built in the
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small moments nobody sees. Every one of them is adding up to
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something. Come back next time for more encouragement to help
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you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a
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great day.
