By Allen White
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. Matthew 23:16-22
Do you have any promise-breakers in your life? You bumped into them, and their parting words were “We’ll have to get together sometime.” But, you’ve never gotten together. “Well, I didn’t mean that literally. It was just a nice thing to say.”
Apparently, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had broken so many promises, they had rules as to which promises were actually promises and which promises were just talk.
Jesus makes it easy. Keep your promises or don’t promise at all. The method of the promise doesn’t matter nearly as much as keeping your word.
I’ve learned the hard way over the years never to make a promise to my children that I don’t intend to keep. I might forget what I promised, but they certainly don’t.
Parents are such a huge part of their children’s world. If you forgot to take your son to the park to play catch, that’s a big deal to them. If you might or might not go, then don’t bring it up. If you’re definitely going, then say, “Let’s go!”
Integrity demands for us to keep our word – even if it costs us something. Not keeping our word is far more costly in the long run. Broken promises lead to distrust. Once you’ve lost trust with a child or a spouse or a client or anyone else, you’re sunk.
All of us would do much better by promising less and delivering more. Whether you’ve got your hand on a Bible or your fingers crossed behind your back, let your word be your bond.
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