Promises can be made in haste or wisely with understanding. Today, I want to take a look at how words can affect our lives. I am an outspoken gal, who was always told I talk too much. Lately, God has been placing seeds in my heart about wise speech.

“He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens his wide lips shall have destruction.” -Proverbs 13:3 (NKJV)

We will look at two examples from the Bible about words that were spoken in front of God as promises and how they came into fruition.

A hasty man

Let’s first take a look at a man who spoke in haste and ended up losing his daughter. In Judges 11, we encounter Jephthah who makes a deal with God in the middle of a battle: if God will deliver the people of Ammon into his hands and he returns in peace from the battle, he will offer up as a sacrifice whatever comes out of the doors of his house to meet him. After battle, he comes home and walks out his daughter. In verse 35, we see his anguish as he says, “You have brought me very low!” Jephthah lost his one and only daughter to a promise he made in battle. His promise cost him a great deal of pain and sorrow. 

A wise woman

Now, I want to turn your attention to a woman who was called a drunk, but actually was a wife in sorrow praying for a child. 1 Samuel chapter 1 tells Hannah’s story. She prayed to God for a child and in her prayers makes a promise to God that if He gives her a son, she will dedicate him to God for his whole life. God hears her prayers and Samuel is born. Samuel eventually became an obedient judge and used his life to serve God. Through Samuel, we have the appointed King David and the history of kings starts from him. Hannah's promise brought into this world a servant of God. She fully understood what promise she made and had wisdom in her prayer. 

What am I?

I challenge each of us to look over our lives and reflect on the promises we have made to the Lord. Maybe it was during a hardship or a hard time, where we made a deal with God to save us. Or maybe it was Baptism day, when we stood before God and the church and made a promise to serve God obediently. Maybe you are a Hannah and in prayer making a promise you know will bring God glory.

Did we speak hastily and not fulfill our promise? Did you take time to understand your promise and the words spoken? Are we like Jephthah, saying words and making promises we will have a hard time keeping? Do we think about the consequences that can come from our promises and words?

Proverbs 15:28 says, “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer.” This verse breaks it down in simple terms. When our heart is in the right place, we know to watch what we say, but when we are hasty Proverbs says, “Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

While evaluating our lives, we should strive to be wise in our speech and promises. Our words and promises should glorify God, for He is the only one who can help us keep our promises.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Svetlana is from a small town in Missouri, where she dedicates her time working at the local Slavic church. As the director of the Sunday school, she works with kids of all ages and helps in the spiritual growing of teachers. Using her Bachelor in Business, she teaches different seminars for those seeking to teach in any of the different church schools. Svetlana actively participates in youth, trying to be an example and a leader to younger members and travels to Guatemala for missionary work with her siblings. As a career she works in retail as the Assistant Store Manager and loves to help others by solving their shopping needs. Her passions are reading, hiking, and music.