Infallibility x Trustworthiness

When I hear the word INFALLIBILITY, my mind immediately thinks of God—the only being I can imagine truly deserving that adjective.

Yet in our daily lives, many of us expect the people and companies we work with to be infallible. Is that a fair expectation? And are others expecting the same from us?

Even though God is infallible, the Bible shows that He worked through fallible humans. Abraham, Moses, David, Peter… none of them were perfect. Abraham lied a few times, Moses failed to follow instructions, David committed a terrible crime, and Peter denied Jesus at a crucial moment.

Still, God trusted them. Why? Because despite their flaws, they were trustworthy and willing to learn from their mistakes.

Merriam-Webster defines “trustworthy” as “dependable, reliable, responsible, trustable.” This is the principle we should apply in our professional and personal relationships: focus on trustworthiness, not infallibility.

No matter how much effort we put into perfection, mistakes will happen. If the person or company making the mistake is trustworthy, the error will be corrected, lessons will be learned, and improvement will follow.

If we reject everyone who makes mistakes, we’ll end up frustrated again and again. Instead, seek people and companies that are trustworthy, nurture those relationships, and grow together. Mistakes will still happen—but with trust, every day becomes an opportunity to improve.