Keeping Your Word

Making an oath of any kind is always make an oath to and before God. It doesn’t matter if you swear by God or your bellybutton, a promise should be dependable either way. Whether it be “heaven” or “the throne of God” or “earth” or “Jerusalem” or “one hair white or black,” a promise is always a promise and if you break it, it should be counted as a lie just like if you swore by God and directly to God.

Too often, we are susceptible to the lies of the Evil One regarding oath-taking. For example …

We think if put our hand behind our back and keep our fingers crossed that our promises are hidden. We pretend that God doesn’t see all (Heb 4:13).

Or, we try to convince ourselves that “stretching the truth” or a “half-truth” isn’t really a sin. That’s what Abraham tried with Sarah when he told the king she was his sister (Gen 20). She was his half-sister but she was also his wife!

Or, we use the description “white lie” or “little lie” when we think our dishonest isn’t going to hurt anyone (e.g., calling in sick when you are perfectly healthy). Proverbs 6:19 says the one who lies sows discord with others.

Or, when we break a promise, we try to invoke phrases like “I forgot” or “I was busy and got distracted.” Our words should not be twisted or crooked (Prov 8:8).

This doesn’t mean we should never math oaths or promises to other people. We should! Making a promise and then keeping it is a reflection of the character of God. Making oaths is not the problem; keeping oaths is.

So, if someone says, “Can you make it to our house by 8:00pm?”, and you say, “Yes.” Then come at 8:00pm. If you are late, apologize for breaking a vow.

Or, if you tell someone who is hurting, “I will pray for you,” and know you may forget, don’t tell them you will petition God on their behalf. And if you don’t pray for them as you profess, seek their forgiveness for lying.

Making promises are only reliable as the one who makes them. If you never follow through with your commitments, you won’t be thought of as reliable and that reputation of unreliability will follow you until that pattern of sin is broken.

Be a promise-keeper, not an oath-breaker.