FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Promise-Free”

Supplies: Bible

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What does it mean to promise something?  Come up with a definition as a family.  How would you define “promise”?

My dictionary defines it this way: “to assure someone that one will definitely do, give or arrange something.”  I’m guessing your definition was pretty close to that, right?  So with that in mind, what would you say is the difference between saying, “I promise to do that,” as opposed to saying, “I will do that.”  Seriously…what’s the difference?  Take a little time to talk about that.  Are there times when you would say one but not the other?  Does the word “promise” take your commitment to a different level?  Is one stronger or weaker than the other?  If you just say, “I will,” does it mean you can back out of what you said without upsetting anyone?  

READ

Pull out your Bible and have someone read Matthew 5:33-37.

THINK

Have you ever wondered why we have words like “promise” and “oath” and “vow” in our vocabulary?  In essence, these words exist to say, “No, seriously, I’m really truly going to do this thing I say.”  They imply that other times when we say we will, we really may not.  We live in a culture where saying you’ll do something isn’t enough.  We’ve all suffered too many disappointments because someone didn’t do what they said they would.  Aaaaannnd…we’ve dropped the ball once or sixty-four times ourselves. 

It’s a sad state of who we are, but the truth is that we have come up with dozens if not hundreds of ways to justify and excuse breaking our commitments to each other.  

• You had a project due today but  never got around to completing it.  That’s ok—just blame someone in the house (kids, parents, dog) and explain how they prevented you from getting it done.
• You were supposed to answer an email yesterday but forgot.  No worries—you can point the finger at the glitchy mail program and say you never got the original message.
• You rsvp’d for an event at your friend’s house, but now you really don’t want to go.  Don’t.  And never say anything about it.  Ever.  Your friend won’t want to be embarrassed either, so they’ll never ask you about it. 
• And if all else fails, just tell everybody you had your fingers crossed so whatever you said you’d do doesn’t count anyway!

Our society has abused the truth to such an amazing degree that we have created a culture of mistrust.  We automatically doubt that anyone will actually do what they say they’re going to do.  We expect disappointment, and as such, we don’t get too upset when we’re the ones disappointing others.  That’s a tragic commentary on our world, but even worse on our Savior.  If we as Christians live this way, what kind of Jesus are we sharing with people around us?  He’s made some pretty big commitments.  Can He be trusted to follow through or will He flake out when it really matters?  It’s not surprising that people have a hard time truly trusting the promises of Jesus when most of them aren’t sure they can trust the promises of His church.  But what if that were different?

What if we actually lived the way Jesus is suggesting here?  What if we just decided that when we said, “Yes,” to something, it would be like signing a contract?  What if we made the commitment to ourselves that when we say, “No,” it will always mean, “No”?  Can you even imagine a world where people did exactly what they said they would do, without the need for that extra level of commitment?  We could take a marker to every dictionary and black out “promise” along with all its synonyms.  We could finally begin to trust each other, which means we would finally be able to hear the truth from each other.  Oh, what a wonderful world that would be!

APPLY

It will take a lot of time and effort to change the world that much, but I think it’s possible.  As followers of THE TRUTH, we are in the perfect place to start the ball rolling.  And the best place to start is right there in your home.  Can you and your family agree together today that in your home, among each other, you will become “promise-free”?  Will you commit that from this point forward, when you talk with each other, your yeses will mean YES and your no’s will mean NO?  You won’t need to use the “promise level” again in your house, because a simple “yes” is enough.

I think that step alone will begin to make huge changes in how you see and relate in the world around you.  Soon, you may be ready to take that “promise-free” approach public and let it infiltrate all of your relationships.  You can decide today that every commitment you make will be a yes/no kind of thing.  

PRAY

Jesus, we love You so much.  Would You help us as we seek to change the world one “yes” at a time?  Lead us to be people of our word.  As our friends and family begin to trust in us, we pray they also begin to trust in You.  In Your Name we pray, Amen.

REPLY

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