Sermon Central
-
We Are Biologically Wired To Trust
Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Apr 20, 2023 (message contributor)
Henry Cloud in his book, Trust, talks about how we are hard-wired to trust. If you have ever been around a newborn, you may have noticed that newborns do not do much due diligence when they're hungry. They scream with all their might and basically say, "Bring it to me now!" The human infant is wired to trust. When the breast is offered, a natural rhythm develops between a baby and a nursing mother. The human infant is wired to trust. Trusting is the most natural and instinctual thing infants do. They trust for food than for holding and then for comfort. They experience hundreds of incidents of being in distress and then consistently being delivered from the pain of hunger and loneliness by a caring person, the trust they automatically placed in their mom or a caretaker pays off and even multiplies. Trust followed by satisfaction builds more trust.
Neuroscience teaches us that these become actual living physical structures inside the infant's brain. Slowly a neurologically constructed mother is internalized and will be able to eventually help soothe an infant from the inside even when the external mother is not present. Eventually, in a couple of years, this infant-turned-toddler will be able to venture into the next room and not be afraid because he will have "mommy on the inside." One day, as an adult, this same person, now grown up, will be able to "self-regulate" his anger at a boss and keep his cool - all because a lifetime of trusting relationships produced an internalized self-soothing system.
Developmental psychologists call this process "developing emotional object constancy." At some point, the infant achieves the milestone of secure attachment which leads to constancy where they feel loved even when not being attended to directly.
Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" NIV. The longing for love and comfort that is fulfilled by a loving mother or primary caretaker now is a life-giving tree living inside, and it yields the perpetual fruit of feelings of security.
But no matter how loving a mother may be, if an infant does not know how to trust-to depend on another human being and receive what its mother has offered-none of her milk, love, or care will matter.
Dr. Henry Cloud, Trust: Knowing When to Give It, When to Withhold It, How to Earn It, and How to Fix It When It Gets Broken. Worthy press: 2023. Page 20-21.
Related Sermon Illustrations
-
A Newly Appointed Young Preacher Was Contacted By ...
Contributed by Craig West on Dec 10, 2004
A newly appointed young preacher was contacted by the local funeral director to hold a graveside committal service at a small country cemetery in Iowa. There was to be no funeral, just the committal, because sadly, the deceased had no family or friends left in Iowa. The young pastor started ...read more
-
Giving In Theory PRO
Contributed by Susan Blader on Jan 21, 2007
Giving in Theory The story is told of the missionary who asked a new convert, “Pablo, if you had a hundred sheep, would you give fifty of them to the Lord’s work?” “You know I would gladly give them,” he replied. “Pablo, if you had fifty cows, would you give twenty-five to the Lord’s ...read more
-
T.w. Hunt Said In His Book "The Doctrine Of ... PRO
Contributed by Jeff Simms on Jul 11, 2004
T.W. Hunt said in his book “The Doctrine of Prayer” “Selfishness brings into our experience a danger so great that God knows He cannot coddle us with answers hostile to the very thing He is working to achieve in us. I would not give a murderer a knife to pamper one of his whims. God will not ...read more
-
The Difference Between God's Law And God's Grace PRO
Contributed by Austin Mansfield on Jan 20, 2007
The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ … (Verse 17) If you compare the two, you’ll find that when the Law came down, 3,000 people died. That’s in Exodus 32:28. When the Holy Spirit came down, 3,000 people were saved. That’s in Acts 2:41. ...read more
-
Caspar Ten Boon PRO
Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Jan 7, 2004
Caspar ten Boon In her famous book and film, “The Hiding Place” Corrie ten Boom tells the story of a Dutch Christian family, her family, who had a heart for the Jewish people Her grandfather Wilhelm started a weekly prayer group in 1844 in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam for the ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Doors: Open Or Closed
Contributed by Barry O Johnson on Aug 24, 2017
The majority of the body of Christ believes that God opens doors (a "yes" answer to prayer) and closes doors (a "no" answer to prayer) in their lives. Does scripture support such a belief?
-
Hope In A Covenant Of Faith Series
Contributed by Dean Courtier on Feb 18, 2018
A Covenant of Faith and a man named Abraham. Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
-
Trust In The Lord
Contributed by Benny Paul on Jan 16, 2016
Trust is Faith in ACTION!!! It is the manifestation of our faith in our thoughts and actions. It is far easier to have faith in God; there are unbelievers who have this. It is a lot harder to exercise trust in Him...
-
The Lord Is My Shepherd And The Coronavirus
Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Mar 13, 2020
This sermon deals with what should be a believer's response to the crisis of the coronavirus. Our hope is to be in the Lord who is our Shepherd.
-
Exceeding Your Expectations: Expect Infinitely More From God Series
Contributed by Dean Courtier on Apr 19, 2017
A lack of faith may make us expect far less than God is willing to do. Yet the Word of God is clear when it tells us to expect God to answer when we pray in faith.
