As Good As Your Word

Matthew 5: The Sermon on the Mount (19)

Pray Psalm 145.1-3.
I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

Sing joyfully Psalm 145.1-3.
(Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want)
I will extol You, God, my King, and ever praise Your Name!
I bless You, LORD, for everything each day, and e’er the same!
Great are You, LORD, my praise I bring; unsearchable Your fame!

Read Matthew 5.1-37; meditate on verses 33-37.
What role does speaking have in your ministry for the Lord?

Prepare.
1. What kind of speech does Jesus command?

2. Where does speech other than this come from?

Meditate.
Jesus wants our words to line up with His will, no matter how many or few those words may be, and in every situation or instance. We should not have to bolster our words with things like “To be perfectly honest…” or “To tell the truth…” or “I swear…” In Jesus’ day, it was not uncommon to hear someone support a point or insist on the truth of a matter by swearing or taking an oath, often invoking God or heaven or God’s throne, to emphasize the truth of what he was saying.

As we have seen, there is a place for vows and oaths in human speech, but usually in the most solemn of situations, as in a marriage ceremony, or a court of law. We should not require such devices in ordinary speech. Rather, we should say what we mean and mean what we say; and we should be so consistent in doing so that there is no need to prop up our claims or points beyond our plain words. 

It is surprising to see how much the Bible has to say about how we use our tongues. Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount summarize quite well what the Bible insists on throughout: We should endeavor to have righteous, gracious, and edifying speech—always speaking the truth, doing so in love, and seeking to minister to others with our tongues.

Jesus spoke the truth, even if people were offended by it. He shows us what righteousness looks like in speaking, and we should strive to emulate Him in this, as in everything else. Anything other than plain speaking—gossip, gross exaggeration, putting others down, equivocation or dissimulation, wrangling, aimless chatter, innuendo, lies and half-truths—is “from the evil one.” 

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“He who loves purity of heart (Matt. 5.8) and has grace on his lips (Matt. 5.37),
the king will be his friend” (Prov. 22.11).

“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” (Jms. 5.12).

Just to reiterate a point already made, starting a sentence with “Honestly”, or “Truth be told” is a dead give- away that the truth is not about to be told nor is honesty going to be forthcoming.

As we observe Jesus’ life, His words, His actions, and His love in action, we see succinctness in His words and actions directly to the point. He never hemmed or hawed, He never equivocated on anything. Everyone knew exactly where He stood on every issue, idea, and action. He lived out Proverbs 26.4 and 5 perfectly:
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

A delightful exercise is to observe all the ways Jesus practiced that Proverb throughout the Gospels. 
His “Yes” was always definitive as was His “No.” Think even of how He handled Satan during His adventures with him in the wilderness (Matt. 4.1-11). It is a sight to behold. 

We have much to learn from our Savior, Shepherd, and King.

“For the love of Christ compels us, 
because we judge thus: 
that if One died for all, then all died; 
and He died for all, 
that those who live 
should live no longer for themselves, 
but for Him Who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 14, 15).

All our words, the long and the short of them, are to be focused on this One Who died for us.
We are always to tell the truth (Ex. 20.16), the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And we are to keep our verbiage succinct.
“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Prov. 21.23).

Solomon summed it up well:
“The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, 
given by one Shepherd” (Eccl. 12.10, 11).

We will do well when our “yes” is “yes” and our “no” “no”, 
without too much hubbub (goads and nails being acceptable addendums).

This is the easiest way to always be—as good as your word—just like Jesus.

Reflect.
1. Why do you think Jesus is so concerned about how we speak?

2. “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” (v. 37) What does that mean for you?

3. How does “the evil one” use our speech to compromise our witness for Christ?

Christ now prescribes…a remedy; which is, that men act towards each other sincerely and honestly: for then simplicity of speech will have quite as much weight as an oath has among those who are not sincere. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Matthew 5.37

Pray Psalm 145.15-21.
Look to the Lord and give Him abundant praise and thanks. Thus you will train yourself always to speak what is true and edifying.

Sing Psalm 145.15-21.
(Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want)
The eyes of all look up to You to meet our needs each day.
Open Your hand, provide the food we need, O LORD, we pray!
Kindness and righteousness You do, O LORD, in every way!

Be near to all who call on You; all those who fear You, bless.
Preserve all those whose love is true; save us in our distress.
Our mouths will speak with praise of You; Your holy Name we’ll bless.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Haven’t been to The Ailbe Bookstore lately? There’s a surprise waiting for you. And men, there is still time to sign-up for one of our Spring Men’s Reading Groups.

Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column finishes our study of the Church as Jesus envisions it. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.