Failed trust causes breaches in relationships, but agape love protects, heals and enhances our friendships and experiences with loved ones!

Text: Ezekiel 13:10-15 explains the problems with untempered mortar: “Because, even because they have seduced my people saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall...So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered...Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it.” (Emphasis mine)

We need to understand that untempered mortar is weak, untested mortar that has been compromised in its formation. In the Scriptures, mortar mixed with lime was strong and offered good protection; whereas, if you left out the lime, it was weak, breaking up, and offering no protection from the elements. The Prophet Ezekiel is telling us that walls built with untempered mortar will fall. In Verse 14 it warns us that God Himself will break them down! A terrible failure in the body of Christ today is untempered mortar that binds people together. Believers in every church, city and home are trying to find people they deem trustworthy. A misplaced and misunderstood trust in other individuals is classified as untempered mortar. The Bible commands us clearly that God is a jealous God and we are to place our trust in the Lord and not in man.

Psalm 118:9 reads: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”

Proverbs 3:5 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Isaiah 25:9 warns: “In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Micah 7: 5-7 tells us: “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide...For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. Therefore I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

No human born of woman will ever be totally trustworthy. If we place unbiblical trust in friends, enemies or relatives, we will always be disappointed. WHY? Romans 3:9, 10, 23: “...that they are all under sin: As it is written. There is none righteous, no, not one: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Trusting people will never bind us together. It will only tear relationships apart as we are continually disappointed, resulting in anger, resentment, bitterness, grudges and separations. We cannot even totally trust in ourselves since nobody has arrived at perfection! If you trust in yourself, you will end up condemned and depressed! Jesus taught in Matthew 22:37-39: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Paul said in Colossians 3:14: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:8: “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.”

Love is the mortar that protects and builds relationships.

This is the heart of the gospel. God commands us to forgive men of their trespasses, which is only possible if we love God totally. Only then can we truly love the brethren, our spouses and all those who disappoint us. God never told us to put our trust in other people, but in Him alone. He did command us to love others as we love ourselves. I have never met a man or woman of any race that I could trust because they all have disappointed me. But, as I have learned to put my trust in God alone, I can love other people, forgiving their breaches of trust, and so maintaining a relationship.

A marriage counselor was counseling a woman who had several broken relationships with men, and the woman stated, “I will never marry again because I cannot find a man I can trust.” The counselor redirected her mentality since the battle is in the mind and advised her: “Only trust in God alone and look instead for a man that you can love as God loves you, forgiving all your weaknesses and disappointing mistakes.” Now this women has told her future husband, “I will never hold a grudge against you or harbor resentment or unforgiveness toward you, but I will love you unconditionally as Jesus loves me.”

This doesn’t mean we ignore real sins, but it does mean we deal with them in love, mercy and grace, always keeping the relationship strong and sharing the truth in love with the intent of never allowing ourselves to get bitter or hold grudges. The gospel is relationships and restoring the sinner back to God and his family and friends. We spank our naughty children, but hopefully we never reject them in word, deed or attitude, but in love share their mistakes and always encourage them to make choices God’s way.

© 2013 World Ministries International