"But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned." James 5:12
In the book of James, we are told to give a simple yes or no. Why is this so hard for us? James continues to say that if we neglect this, that we sin but, unfortunately it is a growing trend. For me, dealing with others sometimes is so hard, it is the most disheartening thing. You may have also had these types of experiences. While you are standing in their face, they say yes, yes and then they ignore your calls, texts, emails. Do we realize that this is a poor reflection on us as people first and then as a believer. We are told that we will be known by our love or by our fruits.....something to think about.......
I am by no means perfect and have made this same mistake but, I am working to say yes or no.
In this age of technology, we are so bombarded with interruptions in our day to day lives and we need to take control, and set boundaries for our time. My fellow brothers lets examine ourselves and our actions; say yes or no! and move on. It will bring honor to the relationship and also to our Father in Heaven.
Our Father is not partial to anyone and, so we must be careful to not consider someone else more important than the other, because we sin! In Acts, we see where Paul and Barnabas had a conflict over John Mark and Paul held fast to his conviction; he did not want John Mark to travel with them. This cause a rift between Paul and Barnabas, maybe because of the familial connection with Barnabas and Mark and, there was a separation. Later on in Timothy, we see where Paul tells Timothy that Mark is valuable to the ministry. His mind changed but he was always clear in his standing.
Can we try this? If you are approach for any reason and you tell someone to contact you, respond when they try to reach out. If you don't want to connect with them, tell them you are not interested at this time. It will really be better and will cause less confusion.
I believe that this is on the same level as Ananias and Sapphire lying to the disciples about their contribution to the church. What did God do? He killed them right there. This shows us how serious our word is.....
As I work on this, I challenge you to do the same!
