Be True To Your Word
Oaths
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
Tommy's Thoughts:
Today, we live in a society that full of lies and distrust. Truthfulness seems so rare that we often backed up the things we said with words like “I swear” and “I promise”. Many also break their promises casually and remedying them easily with a simple apology or “sorry”. But, no matter how earnest or sincere our apology may be, we will somehow lose the trust and confidence from others in the future.
In today’s passage, Jesus emphasized clearly the importance of telling the truth. Jesus told His followers not to use oath or vows and let their ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no: the word alone is enough. When we tell the truth all the time, we will never need to back up our words with promises. And, promise requires our full commitment to keep them, so if we are unsure we can keep them, don’t make one at the first place.
Dear Lord, thank You for the lessons I’ve learnt in the past on keeping promises and also telling the truth. Thank You for making me aware how important they are in building trust and committed relationships with others.
Lord, I would like to pray for my best friend who has to rush her assignment these few days without break. May You help her to do her best and be able to get enough good rest. I would also like to pray for all my friends and myself too who will be sitting for the coming exam, that You will guide us in the study, managing our times and to do well in it. Thank You and I pray all these in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Bee's Thoughts:
Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.The world system teaches us that we should not be so truthful all the time. During a casual conversation with a colleague yesterday, I was shocked that she openly acknowldged that she lied most of the time in her job to get things done. In fact, she said that after doing that for a while she has no more quilty feeling when doing so.
(James 5:12)
The bible teaches us to be true to our words, i.e. to keep our words, and to say what we mean, and mean what we say. I feel quite frustrated whenever someone prefers to speak in 'riddles' to me or tend to say the opposite of what he/she really means. I am very poor in such guessing game, for I tend to say what I mean and mean what I say. I find it hard to beat around the bush.
Sometimes people tell me that I shouldn't be so honest, that telling white lies is ok. But the bible says that anything beyond the "yes" or "no" comes from the devil and we will be condemned for it.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for Your remminder that we are to be true to our words as Christians. Help me never to fall into the temptation of following the world system. Keep me true.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
