Matthew 5:37

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Matthew 5:37

Here, Jesus is preaching on not swearing falsely and ending with saying that it’s not necessary to even give an oath if you speak what is true. What first comes to mind is a courtroom or a wedding when a couple is saying their vows. But this verse imploring us to “let your yes be yes and your no, no” also applies to any promise you give, whether it’s telling someone you can help out at a school function, or promising your child you will play a board game with them. Sometimes, we don’t take our promises as serious as we would an oath or a vow.

When our children were very young, my husband made a point to not promise them anything that he couldn’t keep. And, if he did promise them something, even as simple as going for an ice cream cone, he did everything he could to carry out that promise. Children often say, “I promise I’ll…,” and not carry it through. We explained this verse to our own children and how important it is to not make a promise that they can’t keep. Of course, we’ve often heard, “you have to, you promised….remember, ‘let your yes be yes, and your no, no’!”