Keeping your word is almost unheard of today. Sadly, we have come to expect and accept this. The tragedy of not keeping your word is that eventually no one will believe you even though you are telling the truth. The Bible exhorts us to “let our yes be yes and our no be no.” (Matthew 5:37) This is a fancy way to say, “Don’t shoot your mouth off and make promises you can’t keep.” It’s a real breath of fresh air today when you meet someone who actually keeps his word.
Thirty-five years we lived in Appalachia and wanted to purchase a little land so we could build a house. Farmer Brown had some acreage that caught our eye. When we met he told us he had a special affection for this particular parcel of land because he wanted to give it to his son to build on.
“Uh oh,” we thought. We were city people and used to dealing with cunning sales people. We could feel the price rising even as we spoke.
Then he quoted us some astronomically low amount. He liked us. We were a nice, young couple with two small children and he wanted to help us. We quickly agreed and said we would have a contract drawn up immediately. He found this insulting. He said if we needed a contract the deal was off. His handshake should be a good enough bond for us. We trusted him and shook on it. He was refreshing, honest, and true to his word.
That was many years ago and I’m not sure we would have that kind of confidence in a man’s word today – even in Appalachia. There has been too much media exposure on ways to lie, cheat, and steal and even more glorification of those who do. Politicians, CEOs, salesmen, and almost everyone you meet are adept at twisting words to get what they want. If a “man is as good as his word” there are not that many good men left.
The Bible speaks of a good name being better than precious ointment. (Ecclesiastes 7:1) A good name is our reputation which is built on keeping our word. The Bible also says that putting confidence in those that are not true to their word can be painful. (Proverbs 25:19) Yes it is! Many parents do this with their children all the time and think nothing of it. But every time a mother or father doesn’t follow through with what they’ve told their children they will do, children feel insecure. And broken promises to children are not just hurtful, they are devastating.
Most people don’t set out to lie. They usually agree to do something with good intentions. Then they decide something is not all that important or they lose track of time or they regret making a commitment so they just don’t follow through or they didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings so they hastily said they would do it.
Consider this… God will forgive us for not keeping our word but others may not. God keeps his word to us and we should keep our word to others. After all, we are supposed to be reflections of God’s love.
How good are we at keeping our word? Can we be counted on to do what we say? Can a person rely on us to follow through with our end of the bargain if all we gave was a handshake to bind the deal? Can we keep that secret? If we say we will be there to help someone, will we show up? If we say we will pray for someone, do we pray for them? These may seem like little things, but those who are faithful in the little things are faithful in the bigger things. (Luke 16:10)
If a “man is as good as his word” there are not that many good men left. Yet that doesn’t mean we can’t be one of them. As Christians, others should be able to count on what we say.
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
- Think before you agree to something.
- Don’t say what you don’t mean.
- Consider “little” promises important.
- Don’t expect to count on others if others can’t count on you.
- Ask God to help you keep your word. After all, what we do is a reflection of Him.
