Monday, May 2, 2011

Promises Promises...

How do you feel about making promises? Do you make them all the time? Do you never make a promise? Do you "swear to God _______"? How many times do we loosely throw the word promise, or swear around? Have you ever broken a promise? How did that make you feel? How did it effect others?



Scriptures for this week:

Matthew 5:33-37, '“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.'" (NIV)

Pretty simple... Don't make promises... You stay out of trouble that way...

James 5:12, "But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned." (NLT)

"Say a simple YES or NO." Simple!

Proverbs 20:25, "Don't trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost." (NLT)

Things that you make a promise to God about are even more serious. You don't want to break a promise you make to Him.

Proverbs 6:1-5, "My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—3follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. 4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. 5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net." (NLT)

Making promises that you can't keep may lead to you being in a sticky situation. Check your words/promises before you make them. (James 1:19)

I was always raised in the yes be yes, and no be no kind of lifestyle. I don't make promises. My dad always said, "don't make a promise you can't keep." You don't have to worry about keeping a promise if you haven't promised anything... Think of it as wedding vows... I'm not going to pledge my life and love to a man in a frivolous way. I'm going to mean it! I want my wedding vows to mean something when I get to that day, so I'm not going to make my word something I might say but not do... "Let your yes be yes and your no be no..."

Looking forward to your thoughts!!

Blessings!
~ S*
girlbiblestudy@hotmail.com
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