Sometimes The Less Said, The Better

“But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: Neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more of these cometh of evil.”  Matthew 5:34-37

In this passage, Jesus was speaking about taking oaths, a solemn promise to do something for someone invoking the name of God as a witness to the oath.  That type of oath is a very serious undertaking.  When a man and woman get married, they make vows, like taking an oath, before God and all who are present at their ceremony, to be committed to one another as long as they both shall live.  At this particular time, Jesus was preaching His Sermon on the Mount and brought up what Moses had written in the law about oaths.  Moses wrote that it was incumbent upon one to fulfill his oath before God.  However Jesus’ words indicated that a righteous man had no need to swear by an oath to some future action that he would take or to something that he had said.  His lifestyle should support his words.  A familiar saying that goes along with what Jesus was saying is: “You better walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk.”

For one to swear or take an oath by heaven, the earth, Jerusalem, or on his or her own recognizance is binding.  A vow to the Lord is not to be broken (Numbers 30:2).  It is better not to make a vow, than make one and break it (Ecclesiastes 5:5).  The best way to avoid making promises that we can’t keep is to consider our words before we speak them.  Many times our intentions are good, but we never know what might transpire between the time we make a promise and the time to fulfill it.  Stuff happens.  We may be, as one of my former pastors used to say, “providentially hindered” from following through on what we said we would do.  The circumstances were completely out of our control.  At other times, we just wished that we had not agreed to do a certain thing with or for someone.  After we thought about it for a while, it just didn’t seem feasible for one reason or another.  Then we have to back out and then feel guilty.

This admonition doesn’t just apply to oaths, but to many other types of communication.  How many times could we have avoided an argument, hurt feelings, or letting someone down after making a promise, by saying either “yes” or “no” and leaving it at that?  Sometimes it is better not to offer an opinion, even though we really want to.  I’ve heard someone say that it’s best not to have an opinion about something that’s not our responsibility.  That make sense.  Opinions are just that–opinions–it’s what one thinks about any given subject.  God doesn’t offer opinions; He gives truth.

Have you ever known someone who was constantly telling you that he or she would do this or that and so on, but they rarely followed through on their promises?  After doing this a few times, people do not trust them because they know that these folks don’t really mean what they say.  I don’t want to be like that.  I want to be a person who can be trusted to keep my word.  And one other thing about our words:  Jesus said in Matthew 15:18 that what comes out of our mouth originates in our heart.  Our words can either edify us, or they can defile us.  As the old admonition goes:  Think before we speak.  That could save a world of hurt.