have you ever made plans with someone and then ignore their texts because you changed your mind in terms of your reputation do people consider you flaky do they trust what you say do your friends and family know that when you say something you’re going to stand by it or do they make backup plans just in case you bail as maybe you often do let’s talk about the importance of keeping your word as Believers it’s vital that we allow the Holy Spirit to convict and correct Us in areas where we’re not reflecting the character of

Christ when growing up I often heard my father say your word is your bond by this he meant that if you say something you need to stick by it Jesus said this but let your yes be yes and your know no for whatever is more than these is from the evil one that’s Matthew 5:37 how often do we make commitments and then back out how often do we fail to uphold our word because the promises we made were inconvenient or regretted how often do we promise something when we’re in a good mood only to recant it when we’re in a bad mood we make

commitments when we’re energized and motivated but then try to ignore or avoid these commitments when we lose that energy or motivation that is a lack of consistent character granted sometimes situations arise that make it difficult or impossible to keep our word for example if you promise to be somewhere at a certain time and then your car breaks down that’s different or if you schedule one commitment only to realize that you had a prior commitment that’s an honest mistake should you be more organized yes but that’s not the

same thing as flaking on your word the unexpected can disrupt our plans and we ought to have Grace for ourselves and others when such things arise however this doesn’t mean that the unexpected is always cause for breaking your word for example let’s say you make dinner plans with your parents or siblings but that morning you’re late for work or you get into an argument with a coworker your mood may have shifted but since the plans are for the evening you should keep that commitment if able I think our culture too heavily emphasizes self-

care now don’t get me wrong I believe we should rest be healthy and set reasonable boundaries to guard our time but we have to have balance it can’t always be about us sometimes keeping your word word is going to require that you push through the tiredness sometimes our commitments will be inconvenient for us parents if you make a commitment to your child do everything in your power to keep that commitment husband keep the promises made to your wife wife keep the promises made to your husband friend keep your commitments to your friends

and on that note do as Jesus said let your yes be yes but don’t forget to let let your no be know so according to Jesus it’s okay to say no you don’t have to accept every invite answer every phone call commit to Every Act of service participate in every Gathering or obligate yourself to every favor don’t be pressured into saying yes when you’d rather say No in fact don’t say yes when you know your actions are eventually going to say no sometimes in order to avoid conflict or to look good we make commitment ments but in so doing

we just delay and intensify the conflict while also damaging the value of our own reputation and word a person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain Proverbs 25:14 as children of God we should reflect the nature of our heavenly father and our heavenly father keeps his word look at how important a commitment is to God when Joshua and the Israelites began to conquer their surrounding regions and cities fear of them began to spread however when the people of gibian heard what Joshua had done to Jericho