I’m horrible at keeping my promises. Utterly horrible. I promise to do things I don’t even plan on doing.
I say that I’ll take out the trash, but I only plan to take it out if I feel like it (and there’s a 100% chance I won’t feel like it). I make agreements that I don’t intend to keep. I promise to do something I know I can’t (or won’t) do.
I even do this with God.
Yesterday, I was sitting in my church pew, waiting for the service to start. I had the perfect opportunity to say “Hi” to a new girl at my church who recently became a Christian.
My thought process went something like this: “What will I say to her? I have nothing important to talk about. I really don’t feel like walking two rows up to say hi to her. Ugh.”
So I made things complicated for myself. I made a deal with God.
This girl and her family are good friends with another new family at my church, and sometimes the two families sit together. One of the sons in the other family started to come in, and I decided to make a little pact with God.
“Hmm…there’s not much room left in her row. The other family probably won’t be able to sit there. So if the new family sits in the row behind her, I won’t go talk to her. She can talk with them.”
The son came in. And he sat in her row. He didn’t sit behind her.
Ugh.
I then had a choice to make. I could swallow my selfishness and talk to her…or I could sit in my comfy little pew and hope she came back next week.
You can probably guess what I did.
YI stayed seated like I was stuck in a puddle of glue.
I promised the One who holds the entire universe in His hand a promise to show kindness to someone. And I broke it.
What’s worse is that this is a common occurrence in my life. I frequently break promises to my family and to my God.
If you’re struggling to keep your promises like I am, know that there’s a simple solution to this: Don’t make promises you can’t keep and do the things you don’t feel like doing.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment. (James 5:12 NKJV)
Did you catch that “above all” at the beginning of the verse? James wanted us to know that keeping our promises is a top priority. When you don’t follow through on your agreements, people won’t trust you or rely on you to do things. No one likes a flaker or a faker.
God doesn’t need us to follow through on our promises. He’ll work out His plan—with or without us. He’ll accomplish what He wants to accomplish, whether you keep your promises or not.
But wouldn’t you rather participate in God’s plan?
When we commit to something, we need to do it. And we need to be serious about our commitments. I don’t make a big deal out of the promises I make to God, but I need to.
He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. (Luke 16:10 NASB)
Be trustworthy. Be reliable and consistent. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. People may get annoyed because you’re not committing to everything, but it’s better not to set yourself up for failure.
If you know you won’t do something, don’t say you’ll do it. But if it needs to be done, pray for the strength to do it. Be faithful in the little promises (and the big ones), and God will reward you for it.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 