Lately, I have been convicted of how I have been treating and committing to doing things I have said I would do, and how faithful I am to follow through with my words. Of course, I understand that some days have unexpected twists and turns and while following through with something is greatly intended, circumstances may make it impossible, or cause things to be postponed or rescheduled. But I guess I have been convicted of not disciplining my time, and being purposefully intentional with the commitments I have made, or the things I said I would do faithfully.
First of all, I’d like to admit that this conviction came pretty harshly as I sat wrongfully judging someone in my mind because of the lack of commitment they were giving to things they said they’d do. In my mind, I turned my nose up and thought, “Well, you definitely need to work on following through with your commitments and really prioritize things, because you definitely suck at it!” It was pretty spiteful, and I’m not proud of that at all. I’m usually not that judgmental, but I guess I was caught off guard? (Or maybe, really, it was because usually we tend to be more judgmental over things we struggle with) And my following statement in my head after that was, “But, that’s between you and God, I guess.” I thought this last statement pretty harshly (but it does still stand true). Immediately after I thought these horrible thoughts, however, I realized so clearly in my mind how I had been so judgmental over something that I also struggle with. Matthew 7:3-5 came to mind immediately, almost like it slapped me in the face. Talk about being handed a piece of humble pie. I was speculating over sawdust in someone else’s eye while I still had a plank in my own.
God really convicted me of the verse 5:33-37:
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
We are simply supposed to hold true to the things we say. Throughout the entire Bible, we see how God rarely, well never blatantly says “I promise that I will…[fill in the blank].” However, He is always so faithful to fulfill His word. He commits to things 110%. How many times can we say that we do that–do every thing we say we will? How many times do we fail to do that? What about in our ministries? In our relationships? In our schooling? Etc.? I know that I, for one, fail sometimes to follow through completely with what I say I will do.
I’ve realized that sometimes I tell people I will do one thing, or I commit to doing something, yet the preparation, or the actual “doing,” might not happen with as much commitment as it should have. I realize how unfair it is to those who are expecting me to do it or those who are affected by my words that hold promise–it doesn’t hold me as a good witness to those around me. But ultimately, I have realized that these things I’m “involved” in, or these things I say I will do, are things I have said unto the Lord. It may go unnoticed to those around us when we don’t do the things we say we will, but that failure to do so is between us & God. Just as how your sin affects those around you, but ultimately you are sinning against God, your “yes”s and “no”s that are not fulfilled are not fulfilled unto the Lord.
Sometimes our words, and commitments we say we will make, can be easily presented or hidden away as being “finished,” but are we truly fulfilling these words and commitments as if they were unto the Lord? Are we praying for all those that we say we will pray for? Are we really preparing for those bible studies ahead of time? Are we cleaning the kitchen when we say we will? Are we really purposefully keeping someone accountable when we told them we would help them? Are we really doing ____ when we say we will do ____? With some things we can do things last minute or just fake it to make it seem like we are fulfilling our word, but I feel like even that is like an empty promise. Even our half-hearted, or hidden “best,” I feel, can be held up to this test and given a “no.” I will be the first to say that I do things half-heartedly sometimes just to say that I did it. I won’t do things properly as they should be done.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
-Colossians 3:17
Think of it this way: The things we say we will do, thought it may be to another human, are ultimately things we say we will do for God and unto Him. He is the real one who “holds us to our words.” It pains me to think that while I can hide and do things last minute or not even at all and go unnoticed by the human eye, I am visibly failing to do these things unto the Lord. It makes me feel so ashamed to think that I can be so unfaithful to fulfill my words to God while He is so faithful to fulfill His Word to me. Doing things we say we will, and how we get it done, is under His watchful eye.
I am so thankful that God is gracious, because I know I fail so much, and that I will fail even more in the future at fulfilling my word, though I will try and aspire not to. I need to really be weary of the words that come out of my mouth, and really work on making the “yes”s and “no”s and commitments I make truly and fully be completed. I must really discipline myself, and prioritize my time to accomplish things that are needed to be done, so that I can be a good witness and a good example of God’s faithfulness in all the things that require me to be faithful to fulfill. & It’s important that I remember that these things that I say I will do, I have committed to doing in front of the Lord.
My personal challenge, and what I challenge you all to do also is to really watch the words that come from your mouth, and be weary of the promises you make, or the things you say you will do. Are you truly fulfilling them? Are you doing them unto the Lord?
In all, ultimately, what you do and don’t do is between you & God.
Happy windy Monday!
Grace & Peace,
Margarette
Grace & Peace Always 