“Man Of My Word”

Monday, November 03, 2014

     I was in a low place, and I made a promise to God that if He would help me with the situation, I would give up something.  I have stayed in the right for a few months now, but I am not sure that I can keep the promise for a lifetime.

I know it is best not to promise if we cannot keep it, but I did make the promise, and I’m conflicted.

Any advice?  Will the Lord forgive me?

Sincerely,
Promise Keeper

Dear Promise Keeper,

Jesus tells us that our word is binding and that our ‘yes’ should mean ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ should mean ‘no’ (Matt 5:37).  We are warned that we should perform our vows to the Lord (Ps 76:11).  Eccl 5:4-5 makes it clear that if we make a promise before God – we need to stick with it.  Can you be forgiven if you made a promise and then failed? Yes (1 Jn 1:9), but if you made a promise to God and now simply want out of it because it is more difficult than you thought it would be… that’s a different story.  God takes our promises seriously, and we need to as well.

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