Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Matthew 5:37
Over and over again the Lord has been bringing to my ears, and my heart, the command of being faithful to the words we speak. Not just promises, but letting everything that we say be a commitment, and that we may be found reliable like our heavenly Father. I have failed at this so frequently, and I believe that is why the Lord has recently stirred in me such a strong conviction.
So many times have I told someone “yes, I will do that for you” or “yes, I will be there at this time”, and then I cancel; I don’t follow through. I have asked the Lord to forgive me for my misrepresentation of Him, and I ask those around me now that they would also forgive me.
The heart of the matter for me really is I don’t like saying “no” to people. So I say yes, without wisdom, and because I am one person constrained to 24 hour days, I cannot do all that I wish I could, which then puts me in a position to step down from a commitment. I have felt the effects of when people say they’ll do something and they don’t follow through, and it hurts. A swear or oath should not determine the reliability of our words, but they each word should be steadfast so that we never have to swear or take an oath to gain someones respect and trust. I have become disgusted with myself because in this moment I don’t believe people would choose reliability as one of my top qualities. May the Lord grow us all in faithfulness.
Now there is grace. There are times when situations are completely out of our hands and we should not feel guilty about that. For instance the other week I had a prayer and worship event in which my roommate had said she would be at, however, an unforeseen emergency regarding family came up. She left to be with her family and could not make it. It would not have been a proper application of this verse if she had neglected the family emergency just to make it to my event. At this point I think a scripture of better application for this scenario is James 4:13-15:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
There are two different concepts we are wrestling with here:
Man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty.
With every plan made, we should hold it with open hands before the Lord (Proverbs 16:9):
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
We should not use God’s sovereignty as a scape goat in times when we have failed to be committed to our word. In those times in which we have failed to love others or God, we need to “man up” or “woman up” and take responsibility for our actions.
This doesn’t only apply to when we say “yes” to commitments, but when we say “no” to commitments as well. When we say “No, I will not tell anyone” or “No, I will not do you harm”, someone is relying on us to be trustworthy and a person of our word in this circumstance as well.
Being true to our word is so important because it reflects Christ. He is our ultimate example; faithful to the words that He speaks, so as to present himself as trustworthy, faithful, and reliable. Not only are these characteristics of God, but they are such prominent characteristics of Him that they are rendered for Him as names. Revelation 19:11 talks about the return of our King, Christ our Savior and Lord:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
REFLECTION
There are so many yes’s and no’s that God has spoken to us… and has remained faithful. Reflect on them, that the Holy Spirit would weave them into your heart, so that you may cling to Him, and be like Him.
Genesis 9:11: I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
Deuteronomy 18:18: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Ezekiel 18:20: The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Isaiah 54: 9-10, 17b:
“This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.
Psalm 84:11: For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Matthew 28:20b: And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age
2 Peter 1:4: by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
