Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“Broken Promises”
Categories: GOD, RELATIONSHIPSI made an oath to God before I was a baptized christian and before I knew the importance of keeping a promise to God, I am now a baptized christian but can no longer keep the promise I made to God. Am I sinning if I do not keep that promise?
Sincerely, My Word Is My Bond
Dear My Word Is My Bond,
Rash promises are a sin, but if you can’t keep the promise - you can’t keep it. When we make a promise to God or to man, we are bound by our word (Matt 5:37). Without knowing the promise you made, I can’t tell you exact advice on how to proceed, but I caution that there is a difference between ‘can’t keep a promise’ and ‘would be hard to keep a promise’. Make sure to examine yourself and consider which phrase is really true in your case.
Having said that, some promises simply can’t be kept. Which means we probably shouldn’t have made the promise in the first place. We human beings have a tendency of sticking our feet in our mouths and speaking too quickly. God had an entire trespass offering process in the Old Testament devoted to people who made rash promises (Lev. 5:4-6). When a Jew made a rash vow, he was to admit it, make a trespass offering, and confess his sin before God.
I recommend that you use that as a model. Pray to God, confess your sin to Him (1 John 1:9), and then move forward with a new appreciation of how carefully you should watch what you say and promise (Eccl 5:2).
