Do Not Swear

Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God's throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool.
Matthew 5:33-34

When God keeps a promise he doesn't renege on it. Not like we do today. We all too often swear upon heaven and earth. We swear by the Almighty and give false testimony. Are we good? We are not to judge, yet we do these things. Are we honest enough to tell the truth when we witness someone stealing at work, and asked about it. Or are we afraid to be classified as a whistle blower. It's called morals, by the way. And this is what the Gospel tells us about not taking a false oath. Nor are we to swear.

I swore once, in all honesty, I'll never do it again. I wrote once that I do not swear in this way. It bothered me that it happened, I didn't wait to go to confession either. It tore my heart apart that I could offend God that way. Yet today so many do not even think about using God's name in a swear, it's automatic. Our lips often find Jesus name used daily as a swear, for the tiniest of slips. But the meaning is clear.

Same when we promise to do something and fail to do it. Kids promise they will clean their rooms, often to renege on it. We have gotten into the habit of not making good on our word. Have we then started to teach them that it's okay to renege on a promise. Just as we teach our children to lie, to swear. How many have told their children what to say, because we did not keep a promise, and in keeping with the story told, had the children accomplice to the lie. Think about it; it does happen. If we think about the many things that we do in the way of swearing and vowing, we would think again on how much we truly have offended God.