Keep Your Word

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God wants to help you keep your word.
Bible Numbers 30:2 Around 1300 years before the birth of Jesus the leaders of the Israelite tribes were gathered before Moses prior to entering the promised land. Moses reminded the tribe leaders that God had kept his word and they were about to enter the land that had been promised. Their lesson that day was to teach their tribal family the importance of keeping their word, like God does; to not make promises lightly and without intention of keeping them and for parents to teach their children this lesson as well.

All these years later, God expects the same from you and I. Keeping our word means to not knowingly:
1. Lie.
2. Create or imply distortions of the truth (no exaggerations).
3. Deceive others for financial or personal gain.
 
There are lots of excuses why we sometimes break our promises, but God has implored us to not make promises we cannot keep. Sometimes we say yes when we really wanted to say no:
• To avoid confrontation.
• To puff up our ego by saying something more important came up.
• We never really wanted to do it in the first place, but our "people pleaser" couldn't say no.
The consequences of not keeping your word are many and painful. Parents were right when they warned that every action has a reaction, or consequence. By not keeping your word:
• People will no longer trust you.
• God will find your words meaningless.
• You'll hurt others.
• You'll damage your character and your integrity will be broken.
• Your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health will be compromised causing you great unhappiness.
 
Instead of making promises, vows or oaths you don't think you can keep, you might try saying these five things instead:
1. I'll have to get back with you on that - and then get back to them quickly after you've prayed about it.
2. That doesn't work for me. I'm just not comfortable with that.
3. Say no.
4. Say maybe next time, if you really mean it.
5. Say that is not part of my values.
Keeping your word can seem unimportant when you're promising something as simple as taking out the trash after dinner and then "forget." But it IS important because now the person you've promised thinks you lie and "forgetting" is just seen as another excuse. Your word truly is your bond of character and integrity. Now the person you've made a promise to doesn't trust you and you can't be very surprised when you make them another promise later on and you get the old raised eyebrow.
 
Breaking your word is a weakness God can fix. If you look back over the last week and realize you didn't keep your word with someone, pray and ask God for forgiveness, ask for the strength to keep your word from now on and then go tell them the truth:
• I was afraid to say no.
• I didn't want to hurt your feelings.
• Or whatever your real reason was and I'm sorry.
By fixing your mistake you will regain the trust of the person you let down, you will stand in good grace with God and you will rest easy at night with a clear conscience when you lay your head upon your pillow. God wants to help you keep your word.
You are so loved.

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