International 
Say What You Mean and Mean What you Say
We're glad you like it!
Enjoying the content? You can save this to your favourites by logging in to your account.
Matthew 5:34,37 But I tell you, when you make a promise … say only “yes” if you mean “yes”, and say only “no” if you mean “no”. If you say more than that, it is from the Evil One.
Listen to the radio broadcast of Say What You Mean and Mean What you Say
Download audio fileI can’t tell you, over the years, how many times, in business meetings for instance, I’ve seen poor communication become the undoing of what could have been some sensational outcomes. But not just in business meetings. There’s a lot of it going around in life generally.
When someone says one thing but means another … well, that’s going to cause not just confusion but inevitably, confrontation.
Today is a special day in one small but beautiful corner of the world – New Zealand. It’s their national day – Waitangi Day – the day that some (not all) celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Maori people and the British colonists way back in 1840.
The treaty was signed by some five hundred Maori chiefs and several representatives of the British Crown, but there were two versions: one in English, the other in the Maori tongue. Apparently though, these two different versions have caused issues over the years because it’s claimed that the two documents didn’t mean the same thing to those who signed them.
Look, I don’t know how true that is, and in any case it’s not my place to judge, but misunderstandings, be they inadvertent or deliberate, have a way of undermining relationships like nothing else on this earth.
Jesus had quite a bit to say about promises and misunderstandings. Back in His day, people would swear in God’s name, or in Jerusalem’s name or whatever. As far as He was concerned, none of that meant anything. His solution was to keep it simple and keep it sincere. Here it is in a nutshell:
Matthew 5:34-37 But I tell you, when you make a promise … say only “yes” if you mean “yes”, and say only “no” if you mean “no”. If you say more than that, it is from the Evil One.
Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Comments