KEEPING YOUR WORD?

 Our word should be our bond!

*Personal Integrity is needed in us, with that in our heart the Core Values as Christ unique giftedness will be fulfilled.
*Let your vision define your future. Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No -Be reliable and Trustworthy!

“When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”
*I need to be careful What I promise the Lord and How I carry through.

The Lord is always near to the broken and contrite heart.
*  “He gathers the outcasts…He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:2-3

“It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.”
Ecclesiastes 5:5
*Pray Constantly….Complaining Is a Sin!
**The best antidote for complaining is Thanksgiving.

“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions.  You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.  Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”.

  Matthew 5: 33-37 (Msg)

A person who has to swear or make a promise to validate his statements is a person whose word is no good. The thrust of Jesus’ teaching here is that we should live in such a manner that no one would ever have to have additional proof that we are telling the truth.

* Our word should be our bond!

We have all heard the story of the young shepherd boy who cried wolf when there was no wolf until finally no one believed him when the wolf really came.
Our lack of integrity in performing our word has the same effect on people today.

Throughout history, we have seen people use oaths to declare when they are really speaking the truth and not lying.
Jesus, however, holds us to a higher standard: your word should be your bond (connection, relation, association, and tie).

When I have time to think about it, I will tell the whole truth.  But there have been many times that I have told a “little white lie” at the spur of the moment.
I usually regret it later (sometimes moments later), then I am too embarrassed to admit it. This is an area of further growth for most of us.

I was blessed in Business in the 70’s-80’s to be able to do much Business on a hand shake and their word–knowing a person’s word was Truth.  Today, Very few people conduct business anymore with their word and a handshake. Even contracts are not sacred if an individual can not afford a good enough lawyer. BUT this is not the way God intended it.

The Bible says that our real problem with this, is that every one of us is building our Identity on something besides Jesus. Whether it’s to succeed in our chosen field–or get our own selfish way– or to have a certain relationship—or even to get up and walk—we’re saying, “If only I have that, if I get my deepest wish, then everything will be okay without any Values.

God has fulfilled every word He has ever spoken. We ARE created in His image and He planned for us to be the same way.
Even our physical bodies respond adversely when we LIE. That’s why lie detectors work.
*Jeremiah 9:6 They pile wrong upon wrong, stack lie upon lie, and refuse to know me.” God’s Decree.
*Colossians 3:9 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire.
*Ephesians 4: 25 What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. 

*The root problem with lies is a hardness of the heart.
*We want what we want when we want it.
*The hardness darkens our understanding (shady spot). We don’t see Gods will for our life because of this obscurity.  (We are lying when we Suppress the Truth. Ro. 1:18)

Today, commit yourself to be a new man or woman of your word. You will not only experience a new respect from others, BUT you will find the JOY of a clear heart and mind. (Peace: Philippians 4:4-9)

God’s commandments are not intended to make us miserable–they’re meant for our own happiness. Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden caused Eve to question God’s motives behind His command (Genesis 3:5).

You can’t control other people–not even your mate. But through obeying the Lord, you can control yourself and have fullness of joy.  God’s commands tell us what will produce true happiness for us.

“The circumstances of life, the events of life, and the people around me in life, do not make me the way I am, but reveal the way I am” [Dr. Sam Peeples].

Forgiving Father, thank you for forgiving us and loving us. Help us to be humble, honest and loving people who release others into your forgiveness. Father, help me to always tell the truth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Revelation 12:11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
*When you tell your personal testimony, you tell everyone that God is good in everything by the way He Changed You!
* As long as you are ashamed of your testimony you will not be able to relate to real people honestly!