Truth is Commitment

Chuckle: A cop to an offender: "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new... They'll stretch out after you wear them awhile."

Quote: "Be active, be diligent. Avoid laziness, sloth, indolence. Fly from every degree, every appearance of it; else you will never be more than half a Christian." --John Wesley

TRUTH IS COMMITMENT:

"Above all, my brothers, do not swear -- not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No," no, or you will be condemned." (James 5:12 NIV). "The righteous hate what is false. . . ." (Proverbs 13:5a NIV). "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:9-10 NIV).

Even more serious than letting our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no" when dealing with other people is when we say "yes" to our Lord but do not follow through. Saying "yes" to your Lord is a commitment and carries with it grave responsibility and joyous privilege to serve Him. When we say: "I will," we will. When we say "we won't," we won't.

Have you ever been guilty of telling someone you would do something and then not doing it? Have you ever said yes to a ministry position in your church (committee member; teacher; etc.), and after accepting the position, you became lazy and did not carry out your responsibilities? When you accept such a responsibility, you are saying "Yes" to your Lord, not only to the nominating committee or someone else. The Bible says the church is the Body of Christ with Jesus as its Head, and when you make a commitment to your church, it is to Christ Himself. Such a commitment should be carried out to the best of your abilities in the power of the Holy Spirit. To do otherwise is to dishonor your Lord and your fellow Christians.

Jesus used a parable to make this point in Matthew 21:28-31. When asked to work in the fields, the first son initially said "no" but later repented and did as his father asked. The other son said to his father, "yes" I will go and work the fields but he did not do what he said he would do. Jesus was much more pleased with the one who said "no" but later repented than the one who said "yes" but did not follow through with his commitment/promise.

How you carry out your commitments to others, to your church, and, most important, to our Lord says a lot about whether or not you are a trustworthy, truthful, committed, and growing Christian. “The commandment of absolute truthfulness is really only another name for the fullness of discipleship.” --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Love, Jerry & Dotse