I will ______________
Matthew 5:37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Writing on this passage is extremely difficult; everyone feels the conviction in this scripture, and everyone close to me will take it personally, feeling it is directed at them. We all have friends and people that continually disappoint us. They make commitments and break them. They make make promises that are broken. They are only there when they need something. The list could go on and on with your personal experiences. I too know that I fail seemingly every day. I downsized a business by 90%, and now I simply cannot meet my expectations every time. I make promises to my boys that get pushed further down my list. I fail others just as much as they fail me. This is the evidence of how deep our sin is rooted in how weak our words have become. We continually let down those close to us; our integrity suffers as a result.
This scripture is in the context of concerning oaths, and even more directly an exposition of the third commandment; Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7). There is no gray area here, the line of judgement is clearly stated that God will hold us accountable for how we misuse His name. We will stand before God on judgement day, and they will be seemingly replayed before us in His presence; fearfully humbling for we most likely have all done it. This passage of scripture commands much deeper exposition; but we must clearly understand the reverence and context of every time we invoke God’s name.
The context of this passage is proving the legal and eternal binding of our oaths. But should not our integrity uphold our own word? Should not our “yes” have the weight to carry most necessities? If the subject was of dire importance, our “Yes Yes” should invoke the understanding of it’s critical nature. Christ used the words “Verily, Verily I say unto you”(Gospel of John) when he needed to press the significance of what He was speaking. You are only as good as your word. You integrity is held in the words that are followed by the responses to them. It becomes easier and easier to disappoint those that are close to us. It becomes expected for them to disappoint us, for the patterns are proving themselves. Satan smiles at the continual disappointments, for he knows it is not the evidence of Christ in our lives.
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