What Does the Bible Have to say about Not Being Trustworthy?

A Companion essay I wrote to What Does the Bible Have to say about Being Trustworthy, at age 15.

The Bible has a lot to say about the untrustworthy person. He is the kind of person who would steal and lie and cheat. He is lazy and unreliable. He doesn’t have very many friends because no one is able to entrust him with their secrets because, when they do, he often uses those secrets against them.

A thief is untrustworthy because they are prone to taking things that don’t belong to them whenever the owners are not looking. They have to be watched at all times and cannot be left alone. The Bible says, (Eph 4:28)  “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”  Liars are untrustworthy because they don’t always tell the truth. People never know if what they tell them is believable or not. Even if the liar tells the truth, one doesn’t know that for sure. The Bible says, (Pro 19:5)  “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.”  A cheater is untrustworthy because they are prone to not playing games by the rules. When they win, the other players are often resentful because they don’t know if the win was genuine or not. The Bible says, (Lev 19:11)  “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.”

The lazy person is untrustworthy because, when given a job, the one in charge of him doesn’t know if the job will get done. The boss often ends up having to do the job himself.  He is unreliable because no one knows that he will do what he says he will. The Bible says, (Pro 18:9)  “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.” The sluggard is not liked, (Pro 10:26)  “As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.”

God does not like the untrustworthy person. If you will notice, every reference I have given is negative. “Don’t steal,” “liars will be punished” “don’t cheat,” “sluggards are wasteful,” “sluggards are not liked,” they say. The general message is “don’t be untrustworthy”. There are more, for I have barely scratched the surface, but every one carries this message.

If you want to have friends, be trustworthy with the secrets they tell you. No one likes to have a friend who will spoil surprises, spread embarrassing information, or allow others to have information that will invite teasing. Think about, would you like a friend who does that? If you don’t (and I’m fairly sure you don’t) don’t be one who does.

Live up to your promises. If you say that you’ll arrive with the cake a 2:00, arrive with the cake at 2:00. If you say that you’ll make something for someone, make it. An untrustworthy person will not keep his promises.

Don’t be untrustworthy. Untrustworthy people really don’t have all that much fun.