A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; and a gossip separates the best of friends.
Proverbs 16:28 (NLT)
Trust is earned over time. It’s not built on what people say they will do but what they actually do and don’t do.
Gossip is one thing you need to watch out for when you’re establishing trust with someone. As today’s verse says, gossip can separate the best of friends. Some people just love to stir things up. They are quick to focus on other’s flaws and they seem to take offence with everything.
Be careful. Their influence can create problems in your other relationships. Also, you never know when they might turn their fault-finding microscope on you.
You also need to be careful of those who are overly concerned with trying to protect their position in the pecking order of your relationships. If they want to be your ‘best friend,’ they may try to find fault with your other friends in order to establish a closer relationship with you.
You may not be able to judge whether this is their intention or not because it’s not our place to judge why people do what they do. However, you can deal with the behaviour. Confront anyone who puts down your other friends and lovingly let them know that you won’t tolerate it.
As you develop new relationships, keep your eyes wide open and trust your gut. If you don’t feel right about trusting someone, don’t! This doesn’t mean that you need to avoid people entirely as soon as you feel uneasy about something. Just take your time, test things out and wait until they have established a good track record with you before you trust them with the bigger things.