Watch Your Mouth
James 5:12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath,
but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
So we’ve covered Patience, your Heart, and your Attitude, we’re going to finish with talking about covering your Mouth. When we’re in those really bad, awful places where we say, “God, get me out of this, and if you do, I will…..” What do we say? When they really want something, what do your kids promise? They say they’ll do anything if you’ll just… That doesn’t change when we grow up. We say it to our boss or our spouse, but we especially say it to God. “I promise, I will do this.”
James is not talking about foul language. He’s talking about not taking oaths. Some oaths are okay –
I took one when I swore in as a firefighter. You may have taken one as a physician, or in military or civil service. How do you know what’s a good oath and what’s a bad one? If you’re in a tight spot and you’re trying to make a promise to save your own tail, chances are that’s a bad one and will get you in trouble. You’re not thinking clearly, you’re just trying to find a way out of a horrendous situation.
Again in this passage, James is echoing the words of his brother, Jesus.
James is not talking about foul language. He’s talking about not taking oaths. Some oaths are okay –
I took one when I swore in as a firefighter. You may have taken one as a physician, or in military or civil service. How do you know what’s a good oath and what’s a bad one? If you’re in a tight spot and you’re trying to make a promise to save your own tail, chances are that’s a bad one and will get you in trouble. You’re not thinking clearly, you’re just trying to find a way out of a horrendous situation.
Again in this passage, James is echoing the words of his brother, Jesus.
Matthew 5:37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
In other words, you shouldn’t need to pinky-swear anymore, or talk someone into something by swearing you’ll do something in return. No, that’s just coming from bad places and trying to get your own way. If someone asks you to do something, answer them “Okay, I’ll do it” and commit to it, or say “No, I can’t do that right now.” Let your yes be yes, your no be no. Be honest, be truthful, have integrity in your commitments because you are learning patience.
Can you be thankful just for a minute – we’ve all had people renege on a commitment that they just don’t want to do. “I know, I know I said that, but now…” Can you be thankful right now that God doesn’t do that? That his steadfastness, his faithfulness to us is solid? Jesus said, “Come to me, bring your burdens to me. I’ll take care of it.” What if you do that, then you screw up and Jesus says, “No, you crossed a line there, I changed my mind.” Jesus said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no,” and he lives that. He means it. He will fulfill and complete it. You don’t need more promises, if you say you’re going to do something, do it.
What’s the whole point of patience and suffering and watching how I grumble when I’m impatient, and not make stupid promises to try to get out of my situation? Look at Jesus, what happened to him. Jesus was poor, ahd nowhere to lay his head. His family wasn’t rich. Jesus suffered as an innocent man. He was burdened as an innocent man, but what did he do? What did he show? Patience. He didn’t fight through it, his reaction wasn’t fright or flight, his reaction was faith. He suffered and was burdened, he showed patience, and then invited us to do the same. He said his yoke is easy and his burden light.
Close your eyes for a minute and imagine that Jesus is standing in front of you, holding out his hand and offering to walk through this with you. You’re carrying this massive burden, this massive cross, and he’s saying he wants to take this up with you, he wants to help. He’s asking you to give it to him. His yes is yes, so when you give it to him, don’t pick it back up!
When we lay our burdens down and decide our reaction is not going to be fight, or fright, or flight, our reaction is going to be faith, then that faith needs to be established in our hearts. Stop picking up what you’ve already laid down, because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Let him continue to take it, and you establish your heart and be patient as you wait for Jesus to fix it all.
Can you be thankful just for a minute – we’ve all had people renege on a commitment that they just don’t want to do. “I know, I know I said that, but now…” Can you be thankful right now that God doesn’t do that? That his steadfastness, his faithfulness to us is solid? Jesus said, “Come to me, bring your burdens to me. I’ll take care of it.” What if you do that, then you screw up and Jesus says, “No, you crossed a line there, I changed my mind.” Jesus said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no,” and he lives that. He means it. He will fulfill and complete it. You don’t need more promises, if you say you’re going to do something, do it.
What’s the whole point of patience and suffering and watching how I grumble when I’m impatient, and not make stupid promises to try to get out of my situation? Look at Jesus, what happened to him. Jesus was poor, ahd nowhere to lay his head. His family wasn’t rich. Jesus suffered as an innocent man. He was burdened as an innocent man, but what did he do? What did he show? Patience. He didn’t fight through it, his reaction wasn’t fright or flight, his reaction was faith. He suffered and was burdened, he showed patience, and then invited us to do the same. He said his yoke is easy and his burden light.
Close your eyes for a minute and imagine that Jesus is standing in front of you, holding out his hand and offering to walk through this with you. You’re carrying this massive burden, this massive cross, and he’s saying he wants to take this up with you, he wants to help. He’s asking you to give it to him. His yes is yes, so when you give it to him, don’t pick it back up!
When we lay our burdens down and decide our reaction is not going to be fight, or fright, or flight, our reaction is going to be faith, then that faith needs to be established in our hearts. Stop picking up what you’ve already laid down, because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Let him continue to take it, and you establish your heart and be patient as you wait for Jesus to fix it all.