Keeping Your Word and Promises

Keeping our promises reflects in us the very character of God. The Lord is faithful to his word at all times; he never fails to do what he has promised. Moses, the prophets, and the apostles all bore witness to this faithfulness, from generation to generation: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19). Since his children are called to resemble him, integrity of the spoken word becomes an essential mark of the disciple. Jesus teaches simplicity and uprightness of speech: "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Matthew 5:37). The believer whose "yes" is enough has no need to multiply oaths, for his word is his character put into action. Scripture also warns against commitments made lightly, especially toward God: "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it... Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay" (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). The Law already confirmed it: "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord... he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth" (Numbers 30:2). Thus, the one who keeps his commitments, even when it costs him, bears witness to the character of God before the world. Practically, this invites us to think before promising, to fulfill what we have said, and to humbly ask forgiveness when we fail. As God is faithful, his children are called to be faithful too.