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.
James 5:12
We live in a very different world from not-many generations ago. Before WWII, a handshake was enough to seal and guarantee an agreement.* Over time, formal, written agreements were required before someone could trust another, but once made, each of the parties trusted that the agreement would be upheld.* Now, contracts are so frequently broken, there are certain circles of people who do not even think a broken contract to be an ethical issue.*
What has happened to our word?
James spent his letter to the Church correcting and encouraging God’s people toward Christ. In the context of conflict, persecution, and sin, James pointed the Church toward embracing humility, rejecting partiality, helping the poor, depending upon God for the future, and persevering in active patience. Now, he effectively tells the Church, “what you say matters.”*
God wants His people to be known for meaning what they say and delivering upon their promises. In the surrounding culture at the time of James, people were known to swear by things less-than God so that if they later did not want to deliver upon their promises, they could say that they were not bound by their promise because it was not made upon God.* Meanwhile, Jesus made it clear that swearing should be avoided (Matthew 5:34-37).*
In our context today, as well as in the historical context of James, many swear by God and other things that seem important.* It seems that there may be a choice when we want to be believed: swear by God or by something else. James, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, says, “just let your ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be enough by actually doing what you say you will do.” This is one powerful way to set yourself apart from a world that you are very much in.
When we realize how much our words matter, we will be honest about our situations, call out sin, measure ourselves accurately, and avoid cursing God even though life is so very hard. These things are counter-cultural in a divinely Kingdom way. When done, consistently, the world will come to know that your words matter; when you say, “yes,” or, “no,” you mean it.
Why bother swearing by anything unless you aren’t confident that your word is enough? Let your word be enough.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no by following through on the things that you say you will do. Perhaps God wants you to be true to your word by upholding the boundaries that you set in place that sound like “no.” Maybe today God would have you stop swearing about things to come that you cannot control. Perhaps today God wants you to exercise patience with allowing others to learn that your word matters.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Blomberg, C. L., & Kamell, M. J. (2008). James (Vol. 16, pp. 230–231). Zondervan.
Blomberg, C. L., & Kamell, M. J. (2008). James (Vol. 16, p. 236). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 268–269). Zondervan.
Stulac, G. M. (1993). James (Jas 5:12). IVP Academic.
Moo, D. J. (2021). The Letter of James (D. A. Carson, Ed.; Second Edition, pp. 294–297). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Nystrom, D. P. (1997). James (pp. 300–303). Zondervan Publishing House.