Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? . . . [He] who keeps his [promise] even when it hurts. (Psalm 15:4)Ever heard one of these? Hello? Wow! I was just going to call you!; I'll feed it and take care of it - you'll never even know we have a dog!; We'll play catch tomorrow; No! That dress doesn't make you look fat; Let's do lunch.
Would you believe it if someone said any of these things to you? Have you ever made one of these promises to someone else and not really meant it? Paul wrote: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Romans 7:14).
We say things like: Cross my heart and hope to die... or On the eyes of my sainted mother. Do these words make us more likely to tell the truth? [1] John Stott writes: Swearing is really a pathetic confession of our own dishonesty. [2] The reason we have to swear oaths is our tendency to lie.
As believers, we shouldn't need to sign our name, or cross our heart, or produce collateral. Our lives should be enough to convince people they can expect us to tell the truth.
Can you commit to always telling the truth? If no, why?
[1] I am indebted to Pastor Stephen Sizer of Christ Church - Virginia Water, UK, for some of this article's seed thoughts. I can no longer find the source material.
[2] John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Downers Grove: IVP, 1978), 102.
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