Our lives become increasingly more complex and stressful when we say one thing yet do another!

Mathew 5:33-37 NLT
“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

Our lives become increasingly more complex and stressful when
we say one thing yet do another!

Jesus’s 3-step cure:

Do What You Say You’ll Do

Proverbs 12:22 NIV
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

Mean What You Say, Say What You Mean

James 5:12 NLT
But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

Be Like Who You Say You Follow

Psalm 15:1-4 NLT
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.

John 8:44 NIV
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 14:6 NLT
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Context: Religious leaders long list of rules regarding oaths.

Swear by the Temple, you could break it…Swear by the gold in the Temple you couldn’t.
Oath made to another Jew, gotta have a really good reason…Oath made to a non-jew break it for any reason.

In Matthew 23 he specifically confronts the religious leaders in a public forum regarding their duplicity and deceit with oaths and telling the truth. He calls them “Blind Guides”, “Blind Fools”, said “everything they do is for show”, they have “no integrity”, “Hypocrites”, “Children of Hell”, “Impure”, and “lawless”…you think Jesus was serious about this whole telling the truth thing?

Have you ever exaggerated the truth in order to make yourself look better in some way?
Have you ever lied to cover up your mistake?
Have you ever misled someone in order to avoid trouble?
Have you ever been less than completely honest and forthcoming when you do your taxes?
Have you ever downloaded/streamed/copied music, a computer program, or a movie that you do not have the legal right to?
Have you ever broken a promise that you made?
Have you ever said that you would pray for someone and never actually did?

“The #1 cause of stress in our lives today is not the lack of money, and it’s not the breaking down of relationships, BUT it’s the inconsistencies in our daily life. It’s saying one thing and doing something else. It’s the constant conflict inside every person that causes stress.” – Recent Study on Stress

Someone may say, “My family is really important to me.” Almost everyone would say that. Yet, statistics reveal that the average father in the U.S. spends 5 minutes a day with his children. So what’s he doing? He is saying one thing but he is doing something else.

We might say, “Our health is really important to us.” Yet, do we exercise? Do we eat right?” We say that our health is important but we are not willing to do much about it, we are Saying one thing but doing something else.

Are you a greedy person? “Oh, no! We are not…We are not greedy people at all.” But, our debt load keeps getting bigger & bigger? Are we buying things that we cannot afford? Do we have credit card charges that we cannot pay? Are we saving money or are we spending everything we get and then some…we are saying one thing but doing something else.

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