Taking It to Work:
Deadlines, due dates, delivery promises. If there is one area where Christians habitually lie, it’s amidst our promises at work. Now that sounds harsh, but I have experienced it time and time again. Good, God-honoring men and women will promise to do something by a certain date, and well, sometimes you don’t even hear from them. No communication at all, or worse than that, when you finally track them down, you find out they took the day off and are out fishing!
“Hey John, remember that estimate that was due today?” “Oh, was that today?” “Oh yea, I meant to tell you…”
Unfortunately, that has been me as well. Many times we can promise things, and forget or procrastinate to the point where we end up being late. Sometimes we can promise things we know we can’t deliver, just because we’re under pressure from a boss or customer to make that impossible promise.
All these scenarios end up giving us a poor reputation for keeping our word, makes us look unreliable, and throws doubts in other peoples’ minds of our Christian integrity, which should be far better than the average non-believer out there. We should stand out among the crowd because of our honesty and reliability, not blend it with those that have never heard, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Keeping our word at work, or anywhere else, is critical for a Godly reputation and to have a Godly influence. Careless promises diminish who we are in Christ to others, and throw shadows on our life that is supposed to be a witness for Him.
Work hard to be a man or woman of your word. Promise carefully and then follow through, making way for His Word to work fully through you, today.
Col 3:9 (ESV) – Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
Proverbs 12:19 (ESV) – Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Acts 24:16 (ESV) – In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
Eph 4:25 (ESV) – Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):
The mouth reflects the heart. The promise of he who is sincere can be trusted. As a leaf shows the health of the tree, so the true word of a man shows his honor. Do not be careless with your promise. Speak only as you know to be true, and do not shrink back upon hardship, for the word of promise is to be held to all as a gift, forever theirs until delivered. My children believe My Word and follow. My promises to them are true, and My promises delay not, even to the second. They are true to My purpose for them. Trust is broken in the unfaithful. A promise is to be kept or never given. Do not grow callous in unkept words. Let your “no” be “no”, and your “yes” be firm in its fulfillment. In failure you will bring distance to yourself, and My light through you will grow dim. Allow always for the watering of the thirsty through your speech. As they trust your words, they absorb your influence through Me. May your speech be pure without blemish of the vulgar, nor fractured by deceit, and through it you will draw and build, and bring Glory to the Father, bearing fruit through a pure tongue and a renewed heart in Me.
