our word

Teaching about Vows

33 "You have also heard that our ancestors were told, `You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the LORD.'s34 But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, `By heaven!' because heaven is God's throne.35 And do not say, `By the earth!' because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, `By Jerusalem!' for Jerusalem is the city of the great King.36 Do not even say, `By my head!' for you can't turn one hair white or black.37 Just say a simple, `Yes, I will,' or `No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

matthew 5

this one took me a while. what Jesus is saying here is that not only should we not break promises, but we shouldn't make them at all. simply, you shouldn't have to make promises. my character should be strong enough that when i say i will do something, people will know that i will carry through. i won't be a flake. why should i have to wait to make a promise to really do something? shouldn't i do something simply because i told someone that i would in the first place? i should be a person of such great integrity that everyone will believe what i say when i say it. and really, i want to be that person. i want to be that trustworthy person that people can come to and get the real truth from.

this kind of also struck me. Jesus says not to swear by anything, by the heavens, by the earth, by jerusalem, or even by our own heads! why? what i think is that we don't know the future. we don't control what is going to happen. even on our own bodies, we don't know when we're going to go. for me, it sounds like, don't promise to do things if you know that the future is uncertain. and because the future is uncertain, because God controls it and we don't, we have the capability to break these promises. don't even take that risk. just do what you say you'll do. and if you can't, you really can't, at least you didn't break a oath by the heavens, by the earth, by jerusalem, or by your own head!

in the end though, i think the main thing Jesus is trying to get at is our character. are we the type of people who follow through on our word? simply our yes's and our no's? am i the type of person that people can believe what i say, when i say it? am i the type of person who, when i'm sharing the gospel, people will believe me? because i'm not, man, i have some work to do! i want people to believe what i say about life, love, and most importantly, about God. and that starts by me following through on my word.