Matthew 5:36-37, NIV
36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Who does God want you to be? According to Matthew five God wants you to be a person who people believe. When you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ God wants you to be trustworthy. That means you don’t have to swear by anything in order for people to believe you. When Jesus says to let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no He is saying that He wants you to be people of such integrity that people take you at your word. Do people take you at your word or do you have to swear by something greater to convince them that you are being honest?
Just for a second, think about whose name it is that you bear as a Christian. Now, think about the third commandment, which is to keep the name of God holy. It literally says, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7, NIV). Look at the weight attached to misusing God’s name. Often times we think that this commandment means that we shouldn’t use God’s name as a swearword or misuse it in an inappropriate setting, but it is so much more than this. We take the Lord’s name in vain when we walk around, claiming to be Christians, but do not take the name of Christ seriously (a name that we bear – We are Christians; a people who identify with Christ). For example, we fail to keep God’s name Holy when we are not generous with what Christ has given us; we fail to keep His name holy when we give people our word and go against it. Why? Whether we like it or not, we bear Christ’s name.
This thought should be challenging. How often do we pray in Jesus’ name for things that are less about Jesus and more about us? How often do we go to work and look like the world instead of looking like Christ even though we bear His name as Christians?
Keeping God’s name holy is the natural outflow of loving God properly. If we genuinely follow the first and greatest commandment which is to love God with everything that we are (Matt. 22:37-38) then we will have a massive respect for His name. Bearing His name, we will see the weight that comes with that responsibility along with the honor – we will not take it lightly. So, in all your dealings in life keep His name holy and let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no so that when people look to you for spiritual guidance they will not be misled into thinking that they can live a way that is contrary to the name of Christ.
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