Say What You Mean, Friday, December 31, 2010

Reading: Matthew 5:33-37, 33"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Many people look at Jesus and use His enduring, compassionate love to water down the “Thou Shalt” mentality of following the rules. Yet, Jesus definitely did not waste any time upsetting the apple cart. In fact, in His first major sermon, on the mount, He took the “law” that Israel was following and took it point by point a step further. In this part of His sermon, Jesus reminds them that they are not to break an oath to the Lord but, then, draws the implications in even tighter by declaring that, your word should be your bond.

I’m reminded of the movie “Liar, Liar” in which, even in this secular movie, the dad of a young boy is portrayed as a liar because he can’t keep his word. After breaking his word many times, he found himself having to say, “No, really… I promise” or “I swear… really… I’m really going to do it this time.”

Jesus said, “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes” and your ‘No’, ‘No’”. Another words, if you say you’re going to do something or you say something is true, it had better be so. He even went to the extent of saying, “anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Pretty strong words! You should not have to say things like, “Honest, I swear!”, “I promise on a stack of Bibles”, “No… I really mean it this time”. When you say something, there should be truth and action behind it. One of the most consistent “Christian” failures in this area is, “Oh, I’ll be praying for you”, and we don’t. Others are, “I’ll call you”, “I’ll be here”. Our word, especially as men, needs to mean something.

What are some areas that you find yourself saying things and not keeping your word?

How can you make that right today and take the first steps of breaking a potential habit?

REVIEW

How were you able to value your word today and “let your word be your bond”?

How did this impact your view of what you say?


Remember, if you don’t value your word, don’t expect others to.