The Difference Between Believe and Trust
82It’s “I Trust You” Vs “I believe in you”. What is the difference? For quite some time, people have been asking about the thoughts of this. What does it take to trust? And what does it take to believe. Does it necessarily follow that if we trust we believe, or vice versa?
According to Merriam-webster.com, Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something, while believe is to accept something as true, real or possible. The keyword here is “Reliance”. You most likely rely on the things or people you trust not on the things you believe. I will not go into deeper contextual or linguistic perusals rather just allow me to share a short story to point out the difference.
This story is about Jean Francois Gravelet also known as “Charles Blondin”. He is a French tightrope walker who is best known for his numerous breathtaking tightrope walks 1100 ft across and 160 ft above the spectacular Niagara Falls. His most notable performances included crossing the tightrope with his eyes blindfolded, on another occasion he crossed on stilts and on another he even had stopped half way to cook and eat an omelet.
It is also through these performances that he taught the world one of the greatest distinction in life.
In one of his Niagara Falls exhibitions he decided to push a wheelbarrow over the tightrope, he performed it over the eyes of more than a thousand petrified audiences and like all the other previous treks, the wheelbarrow crossing was successful and greatly applauded.
After the feat, he told the crowd “I will cross again going to the other side, but this time I will carry a man on the wheelbarrow”. He then asks them, “Who among you believe I can do it?!!”
The crowd shouted and cheered affirmations, it was like all of them claimed they believe in him. All of them were thrilled and all of them were excited to see the next trek.
Then Blondin said “Now, if you believe I can do it, who among you will volunteer to ride the wheelbarrow. Anyone please raise your hand?”
Guess what? Everyone was silenced; nobody among the thousands who believe raised his hand, nobody wants to ride in the wheelbarrow.
You believed in him after seeing him but will you trust him enough to lay your life in his hands?
How about YOU?
If you were there, will you raise your hand and ride the wheelbarrow?
See results without votingCharles Blondin Tightrope Walking
The difference between the crowd and the one who rides the wheelbarrow is the difference between believe and trust. Cheering with the crowd is believing, while riding the wheelbarrow over the tightrope is trusting.
It only takes words or affirmations to express you believe while it takes an important something such as your life to express you trust. You can believe without trusting but you can never trust without believing.
You Got to Believe and Trust in…
Yourself
Believe in your dreams and trust in your ability to make them all come true.
Others
It takes a belief to make a team but it takes trust to win a championship.
Things
Belief creates it but trust reveals its value.
God
Believe in his words and trust in his ways.
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Thank you so much for coming by and commenting Peter. =) It's indeed an event apparently meant to happen to explain this distinction. Thanks to Great Blondin.
This was very well thought out and very well presented. I can easily see the difference with the example that you have given!
Thanks for coming by homesteadbound. I felt exactly the same as you when I first heard about Blondin. The difference becomes so evident with his story. Thanks a lot.=)
"To believe" and "to trust" appear to be synonymous. But in the context of your hub's characters ( Blodin and the crowd's volunteer ) "To believe" or "to trust" requires the volunteer to have BLIND faith (like in religion) in putting his/her life in the hands of Blondin (God). On the part of Blondin," to trust" or "to believe" means he has complete confidence in his skill and ability to safely cross over the Niagara falls with the volunteer in the wheel barrow.
What an awesome illistration of the difference between belief and trust.
Great hub. Thank you. Voted up.
Yeah, you got it there Reed. We cannot really say we trust unless we are willing to take risk. When we trust, we trust in the capability to defeat the risk we deliberately reject all the negative possibilities. Much like a blind person, who cannot see anything, only trusting fully the people guiding his way. Thanks for comenting =)
Thanks a lot for the comment Dim.=)
What a fabulous hub-I remember watching a documentary about this man-it was amazing to watch him move across the tightrope! He did many, many 'stunts' like this.
I voted in your poll-NO WAY, LOL I trust the ground under my feet (sans any ongoing earthquakes) and that is good enough for me. LOL
Very well written and kept the reader glued to the story. Thanks for sharing. Rated up and awesome/interesting.
Charles Blondin is really amazing. He is one of a kind excellent vintage entertainer. He might have gone but his stunts and the respect people of whatever age forward will have for him will definitely live forever. Thanks for coming by Denise, Thanks a lot for the commendations and the votes.=)
"Belief creates it but trust reveals its value."
For me, That is the best sentence in this hub! :}
Also, thanks for commenting on my photos - I hope it is ok to put a link to them here...? Is it?
Thanks for coming by private eye2500. =) Trusting reveals the good and the bad about something aiding us to identify which is valuable and which are not.
I'll take a good look at your hubs and photos and will include links to those which are relevant to mine. I'm fond of adding links to other hubs. And I'll be glad to have some links to yours. Thanks again.
When Christ was ask by his 12, Why their works had failed(?). Jesus told them, It was because they did not believe. Jesus further makes the distinction between Belief and faith (trust). Your hub made me realise that Jesus wisdom had gone much further then belief or faith in another. He was also referring to ourselves. My initial reason for clicking (no I would not get in the wheel barrel).(I might causes us to fall)in some way.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts jeff. =)
First of all I enjoyed your hub and the contrast between believe and trust. I believe in God, but I do not trust everyone who asks me to do so, and in the same vein, I am a very positive people person. But I am not foolish.
Your are a good writer, and I look forward to reading more of your hubs.
Bobbi
Great to meet you Bobbi, Thanks for commenting!=)
OK - to *rely on* has Nothing to do with Trust; it is the presumption of a Belief that what one is relying upon won't let them down.
If that is a person, they will be disappointed as all people are fallable.
“Reliance” - it is EASY to rely on people you don't Trust! Geez, if step-dad gives you money every month - you rely on that money ... but he was mean - so you do Not trust him.
You have the Belief that he will Probably continue to give you money to keep your mouth shut or what ever.
I do Not think this has been figured out as of yet at all!
@privateey2500, thanks for sharing your views on this. =)
trust does actually means reliance. It's a lie to say you trust a person but you don't rely on him.
Reliance on the other hand is something not exclusive to trust. It can be taken into a lot of many different context, such as in the case you cited. You rely on your step dad's money and ultimately to the hope that your step dad will continue providing it, in which case, personal trust is not guaranteed.
In the end, Reliance in relation to trust is a completely different story. This hub is about Trusting and Believing. Thanks again for coming by privateeye2500. =)
Believe and Trust are NOT synonymous... not not not
Yes indeed privateye, they absolutely mean different things. Believing is different from trusting. =)
This was a very interesting story and thought provoking. You are correct - believing IS different from trusting. I can certainly believe someone, but not trust them. I'm going to bookmark this and return to it later. I'd like to see how I could incorporate this into a character lesson in one of my classes. I teach middle school and I believe this could be an interesting discussion.
Thank you for sharing - voted and sharing with my followers as well.
Trust, belief, and reliance. For a while I thought they were all the same. Now I wonder if what I do is believe, trust, or rely on people. Definitely such an interesting read. It makes me rethink quite a few things.
I've heard this story many times, but I'm not sure that I ever heard of Jean Francois Gravelet also known as “Charles Blondin. Thanks for sharing the story, the origin and the wonderful lesson in trust.
wonderfully told - esp the last line -
q
What an awesome illustration that explains your point perfectly! One thing I know for sure, when trust is lost it is very difficult to regain. Thanks for sharing this very thought-provoking story.
~voting up and interesting~
Very inspiring. I hadn't thought to distinguish the two before.
Awesome hub topic, and you really have set the record straight at least for me on the difference between believe and trust. Some would think they are one of the same meaning however; it is very clear that they are not. For example, if I believe someone that does not mean I trust them. Believing and trusting are two different animals altogether. Thank you for an most informative article.
@MissOlive-Thanks for the comment. Yeah! This one can certainly be a good addition to your class discussions. Read or Discussed in front, the distinction will still be evident. thanks again for coming by missOlive. =)
@Cephied-Yeah! they are different things man. I also took time rethinking the first time I learned about this. It's realty nice to have you around. Again, thanks for coming by Cephied.
@MsDora- Hi MsDora, its nice to meet you here. Yeah, this story and the distinction happens in the life of Jean Francois Gravelet, the famous tightrope walker. Thanks for coming by and commenting really, thanks again. Have a great day.
@quester.ltd- Thanks for coming by and commenting quester. =)Have a great day.
@KTrapp- You got it right there ktrapp, I definitely agree with you. It is so difficult to repair trust if we got it broken. Thanks for coming by and commenting. It's nice to have you here.=)
@MillionaireTips-It will always be my pleasure to write inspiring thoughts MillionaireTips. I'm so happy you liked it. Thanks for coming by and commenting.=) Have a great day.
@adrienne-Your welcome adrienne, Yeah, they are really different things. The distinction makes it clear what it takes to have each on us. Both of them coexists and affects our lives all together. Thanks again for coming by. It's nice to have you around. =)
Great hub. I agree you have to trust in your beliefs and your ability to make these dreams come true. Not that easy to do though, you must agree.
Yeah! you are definitely right poshcoffeeco. Trusting ourselves and believing 100% in our ability to make our dreams come true is one of the hardest thing to do in our lives. Thanks for coming by and commenting, It's great to meet you here! Cheers! have a good day.
I BELIEVE By BERNARD LEVINE
I believe in the beauty of love
…..love is our greatest need
I believe in miracles and wonders
with God’s intervention
our dreams will come true
I believe in the magic of kindness
….there are blessings of healing when you give
I believe in the power of prayer
praise always brings in a harvest
I believe in the promises of God’s Word
God rewards those who love Him
I believe that each day is a new beginning
to reach out and make a difference in someone’s life
and most of all I believe in Jesus
He is the only way to eternal wealth and true happiness.
© Bernard Levine
a very good nice hub
I like it - I am posting a link to it on my trust hub. The differences between Belief and Trust are HUGE!
Here is mine.
PETER LUMETTA Level 6 Commenter 7 months ago
An important distinction illustrated very clearly, Thanks for the Story,
Peter