Who Keeps His Oath Even When It Hurts
who keeps his oath even when it hurts
Ps 15:1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, 5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken. (NIV)
Here we have one of the main reasons that we see weak churches today.
Today we need people that will speak the truth from their hearts and who keep their word even when it means that they will suffer to keep it.
This is all about the integrity of our words and our hearts.
In the world that we live in today it is nothing to promise something one day and change your mind the next. One day give your word and depending on how you feel that morning you break your word without a second thought.
Have we allowed ourselves so much freedom of choice that we even take the liberty to lie? Yes I said lie! Yes but I intended to do it, but something came up and I couldn’t. Often our reasons are so small as “I didn’t feel like it” or “I wanted to do something else”, or “I was tired”, or “I changed my mind”.
But Jerry everyone does it. Many do but not all, some even live according to the word of God and make their yes a yes and their no a no.
You may be thinking that this is such a small matter, but think again. Do we expect God to keep his word to us? Do we expect others to keep their word to us? Are we hurt when people say they want to be with us and suddenly cancel it so that they can be with someone else? YES,YES,YES!!!!!
In our hearts we know that the integrity of our words are the basis of all relationships. If I cannot trust what you say how can I trust you? How can I know that you speak the truth from your heart if you do not keep what you say?
The worst part is we develop a double standard in our lives. We accept ourselves according to our intentions and we judge others by their actions. For example we excuse ourselves when we change our minds because we didn’t feel like doing something, but we get angry at those that do it to us. We excuse ourselves when we break our promises to God but we are upset when it seems like he doesn’t answer our prayers.
- Matt 12:33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (NIV)
You can see from these verses that our words must match our actual lives and that we will stand before God for the difference. Your words represent who you are? If your words are unfaithful so are you. If your words are faithful and people can trust that what you say is what you will do then you will stand before God as faithful too.
Let’s keep our commitments, and our promises to God and to man.
Pastor Jerry