“It is the confidence that a person has in another. It is about feeling safe with another person. Without trust it is difficult to maintain a healthy marriage.

“A marriage that lacks trust is a marriage in difficulty. Trust is an indispensable ingredient in building and maintaining a
healthy marriage.

“Trust takes time to build, but can be broken by a single event or mistake.”

Mashiloane believes that when trust is breached, spouses can become very angry, suspicious and watchful of each other.

“This can continue for some time. Both husband and wife have a role to play in creating trust in their marriage.

“There is nothing that can damage trust in a marriage like infidelity. Rebuilding trust can be very challenging when there has been a case of infidelity. However this does not mean that a
marriage cannot be salvaged when there is been unfaithfulness.

“It becomes easier if both spouses are committed tothe process, irrespective of who the unfaithful spouse was.”

According to Mashiloane, words, promises and gifts do not restore trust.

“It is the trustworthy behaviors and actions that willcontribute to the restoration of trust. If you have been betrayed, it is never too late to trust again. It takes time and patience. All you have to do is to give your relationship another chance.”

Advice: 

My advise for couples experiencing trust issues is that they put their trust in God for healing. Couples must alsoconsider going for counselling.

Couples should remember that, it is not only the offending spouse who needs to
work in rebuilding trust, the wounded spouse also needs to become a willing partner in the process as well.

There is a misunderstanding of what trust entails. People think that rebuilding trust is has to do with forgiving someone. I submit that forgiving someone and trusting them are two different acts of faith.

You can forgive a person without trusting but you cannot trust a person without first forgiving. I would like to make couples aware that they don’t have to trust one another before forgiving each other.
My advise to those who are not yet married is that they must heal before they say “I do”.

I also advise people never to enter into marriage without going for premarital counselling.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I pray that you help us to take time to enjoy life together as married couples. I pray that therebe fun and laughter in our marriages. May you give us wisdom to keep the fire of our love burning. Help us toalways be aware of the little foxes that may cause us to be apart as married couples. This I pray in the wonderful and mighty name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:7 – Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting
One of the most common challenges married couples face is trust.