Matthew 5:33-37 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil
There may be areas of our life that we find ourselves being easily offended, sensitive or over reacting to. These are usually areas that we have made a vow to ourselves that we are going to make sure something does not happen to us again.
Did you know that making a vow to yourself is sin before God? God is the one we are to enter into vows with, based upon His authority and power in our life. When we make a vow to ourselves, we are putting ourselves in the place God should be. If we have made Him Lord and Master of our lives, what happens in our life is in His care.
Hurts in our life cause us to take a stand that says we are never going to let this hurt happen to us again. Such as, “No one is ever going to treat me with disrespect again.” Or, “I will never be poor and do without things.” Or, “No one is ever going to say I am ugly or needy.”
How do these things manifest themselves? If we grew up in want, we may become a workaholic, making success and obtaining wealth the priority in our life. This replaces God as our Provider. If we were abused, mistreated or neglected by someone we loved and trusted, we tell ourselves no one is ever going to get close enough to us to hurt us that way again. We end up not being able to be close or intimate in relationship as a result. If made fun of for our looks as a child, we can grow up to makes looks the priority, always wearing designer clothes, having the best hair, and wanting to out shine others.
All of this becomes sin. It becomes an idol in our lives. But, we can take it to God and repent before Him, asking forgiveness. We need to remove the inner vows we have made to ourselves so we can be in right standing with Christ and so that the enemy has nothing in common with us. This is so he may not have rule in our lives.
So, today, take a quick evaluation of your life. What areas do you over react to? What motivates you above everything else? What are you very sensitive to when others tread on that area? These are the areas that vows have probably been made. You might not even be conscious of it, but God and the enemy sure are. Come before Him and repent, asking forgiveness and God will bring a cleansing to your heart and soul.
When we take it upon ourselves to “make sure” these things don’t come upon us again, we are really saying God does not have control over our lives. Instead, we are going to become responsible for making sure of this.
Psalm 56:12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
Numbers 30:2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
To make a vow to God is not wrong, but we must know it is to be kept and honored. God says do not make a vow that you cannot keep. Put Him first and let Him decide what you will do and where you will go. Total surrender to His will is what He desires so He might bless us richly.