How Reliable Are You?

One day, Lord Jesus announced to His disciples that it was time for Him to be crucified on the cross and that all His disciples would forsake Him.

Then Peter spoke up and said, "Even if all the rest lose their faith and fall away, I will still be beside you, Jesus!" (Matthew 26:33)

But just days later, Peter could not keep his word and denied the Lord. Like Peter, many of us have made sincere promises to the Lord but have not really kept our word. Most of us struggle in this area.

When you reply, "Yes, I will pray for you",—do you really do it?

When you say you will be there at such-and-such time – are you on time?
When you promise to pay back someone on a particular date - do you?
You get the point!

God keeps His Word (Titus 1:2), and as His children, we are to be like Him (Ephesians 5:1). God is dependable, and so His people should be dependable too. Therefore, Christians should be known as people of integrity.

A great man once said, "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say; I just watch what they do"; that's a profound statement.

One of the important characteristics of those who want to develop intimacy with the Lord is mentioned in Psalm 15:4 as those who keep their promises even when it hurts. (Psalm 15:4)

Reputation is what people think you are, and character is what God says you are. Keeping your word develops inner character. When people see and know that you are a man or a woman of your word, you will develop solid credibility and gain incredible influence.

When we fail to deliver what we said we would do, it can cause stress and aggravation to the people around us. After all, people are making plans and promises based on the accuracy of our statements. If we let them down, they must let others down. Begin to see yourself as a stress re-ducer rather than a stress pro-ducer.

Spiritually speaking, there are two more important reasons to keep our word.

#1 So our faith will work as it should.
Lord Jesus taught us: "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23)

For faith to work effectively, we must believe those things we say and say only those things we believe. If we don't keep our word, it will affect our faith. If we want to walk in faith and thus enjoy all the blessings God has provided for us, then we must believe what we say and say only what we believe.

#2. Every word you communicate (through speaking or writing) matters to God.
The God who created the universe by saying words pays close attention to how you use your words.

Words actually carry spiritual power within them that can either help or harm others. (Proverbs 18:21)

Lord Jesus taught saying, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you." (Matthew 12:36-37)

So don't speak, text, email, or otherwise use your words to make promises that you don't really mean.

Now sometimes, we can find ourselves in situations beyond our control where it may seem impossible to keep a promise we have made. In such cases, we must apologize and go forward in life, asking God for grace and power to help us do better next time.

How Reliable Are You?

Most Read