Say Yes or No
I read some powerful verses this morning, spoken by Our Lord Jesus Christ and recorded in Matthew:
“Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfill your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by earth, since that is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37)
I’ve been impressed with these verses ever since I was a child. Every time I’d make an oath, I’d feel guilty about it, because I remembered them. They’re so true. We, of ourselves, cannot do anything. We don’t even know if we’ll be alive tomorrow. How can we swear that we’ll do something? How can we use, as a guarantee, the heaven, the stars, the earth, or ourselves, or as some people do, someone close to them? None of these things or people belong to us. Not even we belong to ourselves. We belong to Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and paid our price in full.
So it’s not right to swear by anything, since none of it is truly ours. Oaths are pretty impotent without a guarantee, aren’t they? And besides, they sound so pompous. We’re best off if we simply say Yes or No, and then go by that. A simple statement like that commands more respect than a pompous oath, especially when brought to fruition. If we agree to do something, we must do it. And if say we won’t do something, let’s not do it, no matter how hard we’re tempted. It’s a matter of respecting our word, and ourselves. A simple Yes, coming from someone who’s always done what he or she said they would do, carries a thousand times more weight than a hollow oath from someone who barely ever delivers on his word.
