Jesus said, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No...” (Matthew 5:37). Nothing more or nothing less.
Here Moses speaks a law foundational to Jesus’ teaching, “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.” Deuteronomy 23:21-23
When you give your word to one another it’s as you are giving it to the Lord. There are times when I have over committed and failed to follow through. I’m grateful for the Father’s grace in those times. But the heart is to let our “yes be yes and no be no”. I’ve considered before if I must keep making promises it could be because I haven’t been flowing through on my commitments.
Let’s be people who follow through on what we speak with our lips. I can’t say I always have. My hope is as the Father uses the teaching and application of His Word by the power of Holy Spirit, I along with you maybe, will mature in our commitments. How about you? May our yes be yes, and no be no. May we each follow through with our commitments to the Lord and others even if it’s inconvenient. As we do our lives become a sweet-smelling aroma that ministers to the Father and serves the kingdom of God (Romans 12:1).
-To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.