Can You Measure Character ...

who we are when no one is looking? I used to think that was all character was!

I heard this said many years ago and it made an impression on me. What do I do, how do I act, what do I prioritize when I am alone and there is no one to see or know. I used to believe that with my whole heart.

Fast forward a few years to today and there is a much different reality that I have learned. Measurement of Character ... Jesus is my example. My good name is all I will take with me from this earthly life. Am I growing and becoming more like Jesus? Am I dying to self each day? God knows all I do, think and who I am because he is my Creator. Jesus is with me always! Holy Spirit lives in me! Angel(s) is/are assigned to me as God wills.

In the following verses the meaning of the word communication is from the Greek. LOGOS which is the spoken word: Strong's Concordance reference G3056.

Matthew 5:33-37 (KJV) Blue Letter Bible link for studying these verses

How good is your word?

Reference for further study is at

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/RA/k/231/How-Good-Is-Your-Word.htm

[Quote] All of us have, to one degree or another, been guilty of broken promises and half-hearted commitments. God's Word has much to say about the practice of making promises and rash commitments without calculating the cost.

» Numbers 30:2 (All scriptures from The Amplified Bible): If a man vows a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break and profane his word: he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

» Deuteronomy 23:23: The vow which has passed your lips you shall be watchful to perform. . . .

» Proverbs 20:25: It is a snare to a man to utter a vow [of consecration] and [not until] afterward inquire [whether he can fulfill it].

» Ecclesiastes 5:2, 4-6: Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God: For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few. . . . When you vow a vow or make a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God has no pleasure in fools (those who witlessly mock him). Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not allow your mouth to cause your body to sin, and do not say before the messenger [the priest] that it was an error or mistake. Why should God be [made] angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

The intent of the last part of this scripture is that the rash promise to complete something or bring something to fruition, which later cannot be delivered, makes the entire act a sin.

» Matthew 5:33-34, 37: Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord [as a religious duty]." But I tell you, "Do not bind yourselves by an oath at all. . . . Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No: anything more than that comes from the evil one."

» James 5:12: But above all [things], my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but let your yes be [a simple] yes, and your no be [a simple] no, so that you may not sin and fall under condemnation. [End Quote]

May our communication in words and our actions be pure, upright, without reproach and when we fail may we repent and ask forgiveness as soon as we are aware!

Maranatha,

Anna