Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Bible Truth 9: Matthew 5:33-37 {236 words}
BT9:
A popular Christian counselor, talking about the problem some people have of saying yes when they mean no and then finally exploding in anger because of all the pent-up frustration, said:Always being Mr. Nice-Guy, and then turning your real feelings into stomach acid is self-defeating. You may get what you want - for the moment - by lathering others, but you don't like yourself for it.
Consider putting out what you're feeling in simple honesty. As Jesus put it, "Let your yes be a clear yes, and your no, no." Anything else spells trouble.
Do you agree with this author's use of Scripture (paraphrase of Matthew 5:33-37) to make this point? Why or why not?
This passage is not warning against making oaths to other people, so the above use of Matthew 5:33-37 is not correct. Jesus is preaching His Sermon on the Mount, and He is warning that a person should not make an oath to the Lord and then fail to keep it. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, "When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it." People should always honor their oaths, but they should be especially careful to keep those oaths made to the Lord.
Tom of Bethany
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
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