I Promise

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;  or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

—Matthew 5:33-37

Always keep your promises . . .

Keeping your promises establishes trust, and establishing trust builds relationships. The inability to keep our promises and be a people of our word contradicts our character.

God expects people to honor their word and keep their promises. And He blesses us when we keep our commitments – don’t live your life as a maybe!

Remember the Dr. Seuss book “Horton Hatches the Egg”?

Condensed version, Horton was doing a favor for a friend, he was sitting on her nest while she took a break.  Horton stayed on that nest through a whole lot of obstacles, never budging from the nest because:

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.  An elephant’s faithful 100%”

Whatever promises you make to God bind you to Him!

Remember when we were little (and even some more recent conversations) that had things like “I swear to God!” (this by the way makes you accountable!!) or “cross my heart” or “swearing on a stack of Bibles” or on someone’s grave . . .  and then when we did not follow through we always said that we had our fingers crossed so it didn’t count?  

In reality, you just told a lie! And then you will have to tell a bigger lie to cover that one, and then another and another and another . . . 

Lies kill a relationship – reliability equals accountability, this is a test of your character.

Let your “yes” be “yes”!

Don’t lie.

Be a person of your word.

Keep your commitments to one another.

Have a blessed day!