“Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No; anything more than that comes from the evil one.” – Matthew 5:37 (AMP)

Lie and deception is one of the characters of the world that is most rampant now and unfortunately, many professing Christians are perpetrators of this evil as well. Christ describes the devil as a liar and father of lies and there is no truth in him at all.

The Old Testament law says not to swear falsely but Christ says not to swear at all, not by anything or anyone. Christ lived and spoke the truth and He expects every disciple of His to also emulate and live this kind of life. Throughout the lifetime of Christ on earth, He never had to swear in order to prove to people that He was saying the truth. But this is a common act amongst many Christian folks today because they’ve had a track record of not speaking the complete truth.

A Christian is someone who should speak and traces of lies won’t be found in whatever he says but it is almost not always true today again. In this passage, Christ made an emphasis – “Let your YES be YES and your NO be NO.” Having this character is what makes a man truthful and of impeccable character.

Dear Believer, if you are still part of those who have to swear in order to make people believe what you are saying, then you need to know that you are in a sense living a lie and you need to really work on that. God is true and so are His words, and for you who is God’s own, you must be true and your words must also match this character.

Do not lie to people. Do not jokingly lie to people and then think it was all a joke. Many times, those that heard you lie may not be around to know that it was a joke that you made. Whatever joke that will make you a liar shouldn’t proceed from you. Live a life that can be trusted by people anywhere and everywhere.

And the second part to this is that, by not swearing, you honour God with your lips and your life brings glory to God. And you are saved from many attempts of the evil one to trap you in your words. Don’t subject yourself to any pressure to swear falsely or for any reason. Be true as God is true for you are His representative on earth. Blessings.

Practical Application: Make a decision to rather keep quiet or be punished for a wrong than to lie to protect yourself or to feel good. Determine to always honour God in your words.

Confession: I proceed from God who is true and just and I will not permit any lies to proceed from me for any reason. I live by the Word of God which is true and my life is ordered by it.

Related Scriptures: Proverbs 6:17-19, Matthew 5:33-37

Bible Reading: Proverbs 6, Colossians 3