"I give you my word."

Today's Reading: James 5:12
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How many times have you been disapointed by someone breaking their word to you. Perhaps they agreed to go someplace with you and after eagerly anticipating the event, they let you down.

Recently I was called upon as a pastor to welcome a ministerial celebrity to my community. I confess, I was nervous about how such an event would go over in my small town. After a great deal of adu and commotion, the day finally came and several people gathered in a park to await his arrival. After a long time of waiting (several hours past due), a person comes to tell us that the man could not make it after all. The city was very disappointed and it gave a bad reputation to the person who was supposed to come since he made such a fuss about people being there to greet him.

James instructs us to let our word be true. Simply, he states, "Let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no." This is not easy to do. However, many people depend on the validity of our word. If you cannot follow-through on your word, than it is better not to promise anything at all.