Trust Is Greater Than Love

In this important episode, Sean teaches us that trust is greater than love. God loves us all, but our influence really expands when He knows he can trust us. This episode teaches us how to be sons and daughters God can trust.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning everybody. Today is Sunday, November sixteenth. This is
Sean Copeland and welcome to another brand new, life changing
condition of the ninety four x Kingdom Driven CEO. Thank
you fake applause people. I'm so happy that you guys
are here with me today. This was a awesome week

(00:34):
and a crazy week. I spent Monday through Wednesday at
our annual planning session for Regent Bank, very exciting plans
for twenty twenty six for US, and during that time Tuesday.
On Tuesday, I jetted over to Stillwater, not really jetted,

(00:56):
just drove really fast over to Stillwater with my wife
and Angela and I to talk to the Business Student
Council at Oklahoma State University. And then Wednesday evening I
got to chair the Oklahoma Business Roundtable meeting. And then
on Thursday I got to head up to Springfield, Missouri

(01:17):
to meet with the president of the College of the Ozarks,
which is an amazing organization where the students do not
pay tuition. They work. That's how they pay for their school.
Ninety percent of them are needs based and just remarkable.
And then on Friday, well and even bigger than that,

(01:40):
on Thursday, we get to celebrate the retirement of one
of my very favorite employees of all time, Nancy Deckard
up in Springfield. Just love her and wish her the
very very best in her retirement. And then on Friday
went over to Shawnee and got to speak to the

(02:01):
kids in the business college at Oklahoma Baptist University. So
what a crazy blessing. And then finally last night, Angela
and I got to have dinner with an amazing group
of friends who were creating a clean, wholesome Instagram and
if you all want to check it out, it's called

(02:21):
scroll Happy and just remarkable what they are doing. So
what an amazing, amazing week. I thank you Lord for
all of the influence and impact that he let me
have this week. And so along the way, I was
visiting with a friend of mine and he made the comment,

(02:43):
he just made this singular comment about how trust was
even greater than love. It's my friend Neil. He's from Springfield, Missouri.
He had heard it, I Believe in a sermon, and
so he was kind of sharing this teaching with me,
and I thought, well, what a fascinating teaching, And so

(03:03):
I did some research on you know, what does the
Bible say about this. So I'm very excited to share
this with you this morning. And really what I want
is to think about here is, particularly as leaders, both
in our homes and at work, being trusted really is
even greater than being loved. And it's one thing for

(03:27):
someone to love you, it's another thing for them to
hand you their car keys. Okay, so think about this.
You know, I've met a lot of people who love
their teenage kids but won't trust them with the car,
the credit card, or the remote control. Love says I
care about you. Trust says I believe in you. When
my middle daughter got her driver's license, I remember thinking

(03:51):
I love her dearly. She is Kennedy is just precious.
But do I really trust her with three thousand pounds
of metal and gasoline? And that is an entirely different
sermon that we're talking about here. Love is an emotion.
Trust is a decision. Love can be given freely. Trust

(04:12):
must be earned. So how do we earn it? Okay,
let's jump into that today. Matthew twenty five fourteen through
thirty is the parable of the talents. Now, the Master
didn't just love his servants, He trusted them with his wealth.
He gave one five talents, another two, and another one,
each according to their ability. Okay, very important to understand this.

(04:37):
Many people wonder, you know, why don't I have the opportunities?
Why hadn't God given me the opportunity to expand? And
I want to stress here The Master gave them talents,
each according to their ability. So think about this. The
Master's love was the same for all, but his trust

(05:00):
based upon their faithfulness. God's blessing works the same way.
His love for us is unconditional. Okay, he loves you,
there's no issue there. You should never feel less than.
But his trust is proportional. Love is given and trust
is gained. God loves every one of us equally, but

(05:21):
he doesn't trust everyone equally. Luke sixteen ten says, if
you're faithful in the the little things, you will be
faithful in large ones. That means God watches how we
handle the small stuff. Do you show up on time?
Do you tell the truth when no one's watching? Can
you handle power without pride? When David was a shepherd boy,

(05:42):
no one saw him fight the lion and the bear,
but God did. Because David was faithful in the pasture,
God trusted him with the palace. Love is free, but
trust must be proven. Trust turns love into purpose. Doesn't
just love you to make you feel good. He loves

(06:02):
you so he can use you. When God trusts you,
he starts assigning you kingdom responsibilities. Here's some examples. Joseph
wasn't just loved by his father Jacob, he was trusted
by Fabroh. Daniel wasn't just loved by God, he was
trusted by kings. Mary wasn't just love she was trusted

(06:23):
to carry the Son of God. Trust is a whole
other level here. God's love saves you, God's trust sends you.
Being trusted means God sees something in you that others
may overlook, and when people can trust you, your influence multiplies.
The currency of leadership is trust in life, business, and ministry.

(06:48):
Love builds relationships, but trust sustains them. A spouse who
loves but doesn't trust will always be anxious. A leader
who's love but not trusted can't lead for long. A
friend whose life love but not trusted won't be confided in.
John Maxwell says leadership operates at the speed of trust.
We can't delegate to people who don't trust you. And

(07:10):
you can't inspire those you don't trust. Imagine God saying
to you, I want to trust you with influence, with finances,
with people's hearts. That's the highest compliment Heaven can give. Now,
how do we become a person that God and others
can trust? Number one, we have integrity when it costs

(07:30):
us something. Truth isn't built when things are easy should be.
Trust isn't built when things are easy. It's built when
it's costly. When you choose honesty over convenience, you're proving
you can be trusted. Number two consistency over time. One
good act doesn't create trust, it's showing up over and

(07:51):
over again. Trust is built drop by drop and lost
by the bucket full humility and success. When you succeed
in give God the credit, Heaven says, I can trust
you with more stewardship and the small things. Before God
gives you more, he checks how you handle less. Luke
twelve forty eight says to whom much is given, much

(08:14):
is required. Jesus is the ultimate example of trustworthiness. Even
Jesus had to earn trust in his earthly ministry. Luke
two fifty two says, Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and
favor with God and man. He grew in favor. That
is another word for trust. When people trust you, they

(08:34):
will help you. I have been blessed with an extremely
large center of influence, and I believe it is because
people know that I won't take advantage of them. They
can believe what I tell them. I always try to
do right with them. I want to help them. I
invest in those relationships. I think those are very important.

(08:58):
When you are a taker, when it is all one way,
when you are not a giving back, it is very
difficult to increase in favor or trust. Before the Father
could trust him with the cross, he trusted Jesus with carpentry.
Before he could leave twelve disciples, he had to obey
his parents, and in the garden of Yssemine he prayed,

(09:21):
not my will, but yours be done. That's the ultimate
act of trustworthiness, obedience to God when it costs everything. Now,
what is God's reward for the trustworthy. Let's go back
to the parable of the talents. The faithful servant heard
the six words every believer belongs to hear. Well done,

(09:43):
good and faithful servant, You have been faithful with little
I will make you ruler over much. Being loved makes
you a child of God. Being trusted makes you a
partner in His plan. So I want you to think
about three questions today as we close this time together.
Number one, where has God given you something small and

(10:05):
you've treated it like it didn't matter? Number two? Are
you living in a way that makes others confident to
trust you? Number three? What area of your life would
change if God could fully trust you? And I want
to encourage you to pray this prayer because trust is

(10:27):
so so important. Lord, help me to live in such
a way that you can trust me with more, more influence,
more opportunity, more of your glory. Now, let me give
you a real simple example of trust. When someone tells
you something and then you go on and share it

(10:48):
with others, okay, or you are gossiping about someone else.
What happens is the person you are gossiping to you
may think that you are creating favor within or creating
trust with them. That is not what is happening. What's
happening is they are seeing that they cannot trust you

(11:10):
because you tell other people's business. You gossip about other
people you know, they know you're going to do the
same thing about them. So I have a business partner
by the name of Greg Boudreau, and Greg and I
are very very different. I am very opportunistic. I'm always

(11:34):
the gas pedal. I always want to do the new thing.
He is much more thoughtful and cerebral and risk averse conservative.
He wants to make sure we're not making a mistake.
Over the years, the reason our bank has had success
is because of our partnership. But what people don't realize
is the tremendous amount of trust that Greg has earned

(11:58):
over such a long long period of time. Literally for
fifteen years we have worked together, and everything he has
done or said has earned him trust. I know that
I could get hit by a truck tomorrow and he
will steward the organization and the employees very very well.

(12:20):
When my father told me, Son, I trust you, I
realized that was the highest compliment he could ever give.
Love said, he cared trust, said he believed God loves
you beyond measure, But when he can trust you, Heaven
moves through you. Being loved makes you feel valued, but
being trusted makes you valuable. So please pray with me

(12:45):
this morning, and let's live a life of trust worthiness.
Let's live a life where others know they can count
on us. We will do what we say we will do.
We don't over promise and under deliver, because truly, truly, truly,
trust is even greater than love. Please bow with me today,
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for each person

(13:08):
that is joined today's podcast. I pray that you would
help us as leaders to build a life of trust
where people know, whether they are at the highest levels
or the lowest levels, they can trust in us. We
not only love them, but we will always do the
right thing, always follow through. We will, and Father, as

(13:32):
we prayed earlier, help us to build lives in which
you can trust us, so that you will give us
greater influence as well. We thank you and we love
you so much in Jesus' name. A men, So everybody,
thank you very much for joining this edition of the
ninety four x Kingdom Driven CEO