Read: James 5:12

There was a time when it is popular to "swear" by a god or the authority of heaven and earth as a guarantee of a promise. The idea is that once I swear, that guarantor will heap calamity on me if I don't come through on my promise. And somehow, that prospect is supposed to make you feel better about accepting my promise.

James says, "don't do that." The reason is because God takes our what we say very seriously. If we swear by his name, he will hold us to it.

Rather, James tells us to tell as someone who is good to our word - that we do what we say. In this case, there is no need to swear by some other authority. We are simply known as someone who is comletely reliable.

And as reliable people who do what we say, we also should live the values we say we believe in. We should live as the disciples of Jesus that we say we want to be.

Write
Think about your faith story: who do you know is a person of their word? How does their promise keeping impact your relationship?

Are you a person of your word? What things get in the way of your promise keeping? Who have you let down because of a failure to keep a promise?

Who at this moment are counting on you to keep a promise and do what you say?

Pray
What is God saying to you today?

Talk to God about your struggle to be a person of your word. Tell God how it feels to think about people you have let down.

Talk to God about the people who have let you down. Ask God how you can repair these relationships.

Talk to God about the people who at this moment rely on you to do what you promise. Ask God for the resources to keep you word. What do you need?

Pray for an experience of God's love, grace and mercy as you strive to be a person of your word, as you emulate GOd in his faithfulness to you to others.