Trustworthiness

Help your child learn the value of being a honorable person that can be trusted. While your children are little, be sure to say things like, "Don't say it if you don't mean to do it"; "You said you would do it so now you have to follow through". Read them Matt 5:37 "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Try this with your child to help give them a visual on trust. Get 3 blocks. Set a block on the table as you mention something trustworthy your child did like; put away their toys when they said they would, or turned off the TV after the show was over like they said they would. Then set another block next to it and say, "This is for watching your little sister like you promised, or taking out the trash when you promised." Take the 3rd block and set it on the foundation. Tell them, Since you've shown yourself to be trustworthy, I can trust you to ( Something they have been wanting to be trusted with) (Example: Make their own bedtime on Friday night. )"Because of the foundation of trust you laid I believe I can trust you to make good choices."

Now take away one of the foundation blocks so the top one falls. Tell them, "When you break that trust, it is very hard to trust you again." Try to put the third block back up by setting it on the edge of the remaining block so that it keeps falling down. "When you keep your promises, you are being honest and people believe you will do it again.

In the future, as they wrestle with the challenges of being trustworthy you can refer back to this visual to help them realize what they have done.

I have had many battles with my kids to honor their word over the years . When they lie or violate clear boundaries, they know that far worse than my punishment was my loss of trust in them. They would have to earn it back, losing privileges until they regained my trust. It was brutal on all of us but an extremely important battle to fight and win.

You can do it. Don't back down. Stand your ground and fight the good fight. Their integrity will be your reward.

This object lesson came from Gospel Light newsletters on Raising up Spiritual Champions.