If you read the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13), you’ll find a beautiful description of how Christians should interact with each other through love. In verses 4-8, Paul lists 15 attributes that should mark our best relationships. Hidden in the midst of that list is a gem of truth: love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7).

What does it mean to truly trust in a relationship? Here are five ways that trust should define your best relationships:

1. Trust gives the benefit of the doubt. When someone tells you something and you’re not sure, when you have to take their word for it, you take their word for it. You give them the benefit of the doubt.

2. Trust assigns the best motives. When you’re not sure why someone said something or did something, and when you have to assign the motive behind it, “did they do this because they love me or is there some hidden agenda?”, trust assigns the best motives.

3. Trust is innocent until proven guilty. That should be self explanatory. Too many times in our relationships, because of past hurts, we become so jaded that we assume everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Love clears the slate from your past broken relationships, whether it was an absent parent or a bad boyfriend, and you choose that trust is innocent until proven guilty.

4. Trust is not suspicious unjustly. If you like to track a loved one with Find my iPhone because you’re always suspicious that they’re up to no good, that’s not trust. Love isn’t suspicious unjustly. Love always trusts.

5. Trust chooses to fill the gap with the most generous interpretation. When there’s a gap in information and you’re not sure why someone said something or did something, love chooses to fill the gap with the most generous interpretation. Love always trusts.