But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 (NASB)
How important is it for us to keep our promises? Many of us, who find it hard to keep commitments, go more by how we feel at the moment, instead of by what we may have promised. Sadly, this is also true of many a marriage. Too many blithely vow to be faithful unto death, but renege on their promises when “the thrill is gone.”
To get a better idea of how to think about this, let us consider the nature and character of God. God is unchanging and he is absolutely truthful. He says what he means and means what he says. It is because of his faithfulness to his promises that we have hope.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19 (ESV)
All of us have lapses in our faithfulness to some degree or another. Most of us can bring to mind times when we let someone down. For some of us, this may have become a way of life. If so, acknowledging our sin and asking the Lord to help us change is in order. For those of us who have placed our allegiance and trust in Christ, over time the indwelling Holy Spirit develops Christ’s character. One area he works in us is being faithful to our word. Perhaps he is speaking to your heart about this right now.
The more we become like God, the more faithful we will be to our promises.
King David wrote that God will honor…
Those who…keep their promises even when it hurts. Psalm 15:4 (NLT)
One of Jesus’ titles is the Truth. (John 14:6) Every lie we tell is a betrayal of our Lord and grieves the Holy Spirit. It might even be said that lying is a form of idolatry because it elevates falsehood in our lives over the Truth. Conversely, the more we keep our word, the more Jesus’ truthfulness is evident in and through us.
God intends that our behavior should reinforce the gospel message. The more we look and act like the truth we share with others, the more people will be apt to take notice. Conversely, when we fall short of the gospel’s call to truthfulness, we give our hearers another excuse to reject Jesus.
Practically speaking, if we prioritize keeping our promises, it will make us more careful about what we say. We will do our best to only commit to those things we actually plan to follow through on, rather than promising to do something simply because we hate to say “no.” We should be regarded as honest persons who keep our word. We will be more respected, happier, a better reflection of God’s character, and a better transmitter of the gospel. None of us is perfect, but the Holy Spirit should be making progress in in our lives.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I praise and worship you for your perfect truthfulness. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are the Spirit of Truth. Work truth in me. Live your perfect truthfulness through me. I repent all forms of falsehood and ask you to develop Christ’s character in me. Help me to be an example that will not cause offense or a stumbling block to others. Amen.
