[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:18) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.
Our topic is: "Does God Punish Us When We Break a Promise?" Here's Rick, Jonathan, and Julie.
[Rick] (0:19 - 0:30) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years. Julie, a longtime contributor, is also with us.
Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
[Jonathan] (0:31 - 0:36) Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might..."
[Rick] (0:36 - 1:19) What's the status of promises these days? Has the making of a promise become a simple figure of speech? When we say, "I promise," are we really saying, "I'm going to try," or "I really do intend to accomplish what I said I would do?" Have we lost our connection between our promises and our integrity?
It seems as though the power of a promise has gone from being a guarantee of what will happen to a way of showing effort in getting things done. What does God see in us when we make a half-hearted promise to someone else? Does this kindle His wrath, or does it just disappoint Him?
What should we know and do when it comes to making and keeping our promises?
[Jonathan] (1:20 - 1:25) Rick, what does our theme text about doing things "with all our might" have to do with promises?
[Rick] (1:25 - 1:39) Good question. The answer is actions are far superior to words! That's as far as we need to go at this point. We're going to come back around to that as we walk through this very significant subject.
[Julie] (1:39 - 2:00) Okay, we've all heard about promises. A promise is declaring that you will or won't do something. In a legal setting, it means another person relies on your declaration to do or not do something.
But you can make a promise without actually having to use the words, "I promise." You just declare you will or won't do something and the other person relies on your word.
[Rick] (2:00 - 2:28) Okay. You get a sense that it's there for a specific reason. Before we focus on our promises made and sometimes broken, we need to ask the fundamental question;
what's the highest purpose of a promise? The answer is it's made to be counted on. We as sinful human beings are extremely challenged in this particular area of life.
[Jonathan] (2:28 - 2:35) You're right, Rick, but if you think about it, God's promises are a statement of fact that has not yet unfolded.
[Rick] (2:35 - 2:56) Yeah. He, God, is the grand promise keeper. If you want to understand promises, you look at God Almighty and it gives you a sense of what a promise really means. Here's a great scripture that puts that in context.
Isaiah 55:8-11:
[Jonathan] (2:57 - 3:37) "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." This is saying God's promises will always be fulfilled.
[Rick] (3:38 - 4:06) He's very emphatic about this! When it goes out of My mouth, it has a purpose, and that purpose always is fulfilled exactly the way I said it would be. That's the grand promise keeper.
That's our model for promises. Now let's get practical for us. In the New Testament, there are three closely related Greek words for "promise."
[Julie] (4:06 - 5:06) The first word is a verb. It gives us a sense of a focused intention that precedes deliberate action. Of the fifteen uses of this word, four are related to humanity, and three of the four are NOT good.
Here is one positive use having to do with women in the church, and that's found in 1 Timothy 2:9-10. The Apostle Paul says: "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness." "Making a claim" here is that Greek verb for "promise."
The Apostle Paul isn't saying women can't put braids in their hair, but rather that they should present themselves in relation to the promise, the stated intent of godliness, that they made. Being gaudy or showy would be inappropriate and out of place. If it's too gaudy, it may not be godly.
[Rick] (5:06 - 5:27) Look, this scripture in principle doesn't just apply to women. Let's be very profoundly clear that it comes down to how do we present ourselves because we have promised our lives and sacrifice to follow in Jesus' footsteps. We're going to expand on that in a little while.
[Jonathan] (5:28 - 5:45) An example of this word relating to God's promises is found in Hebrews 6:13-14: "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU."
[Rick] (5:45 - 6:48) Think about this for a second. We talked about how when God's words go out from His mouth, they're yay and amen, and there's no fluctuation. Here, the way this is described, it's not just saying this is what I will do. It's "I will SURELY bless you...
I will SURELY multiply you." It is making the statement. For God to just say it is enough, but God is saying it and building upon what He's saying so it's clearly understood by the hearer.
See, because sometimes we may hear the word of God, but it doesn't register. So He's saying, speaking this promise in a depth so the hearer can say this is something that never will change. We look at this, and we have to start thinking about our "Personal Promise Keeping" with this example in mind:
Our promise to be disciples of Jesus requires us to be all in and includes the way we look as well as the way we carry ourselves in public. That's what our promise here needs to be.
[Jonathan] (6:49 - 7:13) The second Greek word used for "promise" is a noun and expresses an unequivocal commitment to future actions. It's used twice in the Bible, both times regarding God's promises.
The first is 2 Peter 1:4: "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature..."
[Rick] (7:14 - 8:49) Now think about that. He's granted us these magnificent promises, and then it says so by those promises you can be "partakers of the divine nature," which is so far beyond you can't even understand it. God's promises open a door that's impossible to open any other way. That's the power of what promise in the New Testament is supposed to mean.
It's that clarity. It's that focus. It's that security that comes from it.
Now the second time this particular word is used in the New Testament is in 2 Peter 3:13. Let's start 2 Peter 3:12-13: "Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!"
You're looking and say, wait, wait, wait, we're talking about God's beautiful promises and this is what you're talking about? Yes. Why?
Because the next words, you look at that and you say, that's terrible. Wait, wait, wait. <Continuing 2 Peter 3:13> "But according to His promise..." Here's what follows;
"...according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." You see, God's promises take the difficulty and say, that's just the introduction to what God's promises actually bring. Again, when we look at God's promises and relate it to our "Personal Promise Keeping," here's what we need to understand:
God's promises--and Jonathan, you already said this--they're always kept and they are unbreakable! They are indestructible, they are irrefutable and cannot be questioned.
[Julie] (8:49 - 9:15) Wow! We can rely on that. The last Greek word for "promise" is also a noun.
It's the announcement of a promise as a basis for what people can rely on. All combined, these three words for promise are used seventy times in the New Testament. Sixty-five out of those seventy uses refer to God and His promises.
The other five refer to human commitments--and a heads-up--they mostly describe negative circumstances.
[Rick] (9:15 - 9:47) We haven't looked at any of those negative consequences yet, so let's take a look at a negative human application of the word "promise" in the New Testament. Remember, it's not used a lot, and that should tell us something about our promise-making, and we'll develop that here. But here, this negative human application of "promise" relates to the chief priests promising to commit to Judas to pay him to betray Jesus.
Here's one of those four negative uses. Jonathan, let's look at Mark 14:10-11:
[Jonathan] (9:48 - 10:02) "Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray him at an opportune time."
[Rick] (10:02 - 10:45) He's money-driven. They make the promise, and it says, "and he began seeking how to betray him..." I have the promise, I have their word, now I'm going to go do it. This is not a promise that brings glory to anybody or anything at any time in any circumstance.
That's, unfortunately, how many times "promise" ends up being expressed within humanity. We have to look at the contrast so far. You've got God's promises and our promises.
Not a good contrast. Let's go now comparing God's promises in relation to this. This is the use of that last word, Julie, that you had just described.
This is in Galatians 3:14-16:
[Jonathan] (10:45 - 11:05) "In order that Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the spirit through faith... Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to seeds, as referring to many, but rather to one,
and to your seed, that is, Christ."
[Rick] (11:05 - 11:49) Here in this text, you have receiving "the promise of the spirit." Jesus said that the spirit would come when he leaves. That was, when Jesus said it, it was a reflection of what God had promised. In Galatians, the Apostle's saying, we've received that.
It comes through the promise given to Abraham that we already talked about. That promise that was, "surely I will do this." You've got the clarity of God's words.
Folks, this helps us understand what a promise should look like. That's why we're taking the time on this. Please grasp the gravity of making promises.
We need to look at this and apply it to ourselves. We need to apply it in our "Personal Promise Keeping:"
[Julie] (11:50 - 12:11) Human promises can easily be made in the context of unjust and self-serving circumstances. We are to exercise extreme righteous caution when making our promises! Rick and Jonathan, a friend of ours, Carl, used to say, "We might be the only Bible someone reads.
Are we a good translation?"
[Rick] (12:11 - 12:22) Ooo! When you think about that, really what it says is, is your life reflecting what the Word has told you?
[Julie] (12:23 - 12:23) Exactly.
[Rick] (12:24 - 13:00) That's where the real true ground for promise making and keeping comes. Let's now focus on Jesus. You look at God and say, well, that's a lofty example.
That's beyond us. Yep, you're right. Okay, let's go to Jesus in his human existence.
Jesus didn't make a habit of promising things to his disciples. Instead, what he did was he lived his commitment to his Father's will every day in every way. Simple. Let's look at John 4:31-34:
[Jonathan] (13:00 - 13:32) "Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about.
So the disciples were saying to one another, No one brought him anything to eat, did he? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." Everything Jesus did and said was for the purpose of accomplishing his Father's work in accordance with his Father's will.
He didn't need to make a bunch of formal promises. He just did what God put in front of him.
[Julie] (13:32 - 13:50) I was surprised to find that Jesus never specifically taught anything about keeping promises, but he did talk a lot about being firm and truthful. He lived the life of one who kept his promises on a higher level than any other human being ever did.
He was absolutely dependable.
[Rick] (13:50 - 14:23) When you read the life of Jesus, you read the Word of God. That's exactly what your quote from Carl is saying. That's the example.
Living with focused integrity lessens a need, lessens a desire, lessens the temptation to make all kinds of promises along the way. Just live the life. Jesus taught us the principles of keeping our word, because some of us do keep our word more easily, and some of us don't.
Let's look at Matthew 12:33-35.
[Jonathan] (14:23 - 14:47) Jesus was chastising the Pharisees: "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers,
how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."
[Rick] (14:47 - 15:31) Jesus is saying, look, we're doing different things with what we've got. If we have been that tree that isn't good, we need to transform that tree. When you look at people's lives, you can see many people who've been able to do that.
Jonathan, in the life experiences you've had in the past, we see the transformation to being that good tree. You found new treasure. Here's the thing; not keeping our word--if we are in the habit of not keeping our word--it's symptomatic of wrong heart motivation and of unrealistic life perspective.
It's a hint that there's something fundamentally disconnected if we're living as a Christian and we are not keeping our word, not keeping our promises.
[Julie] (15:32 - 15:54) Obviously, there's a difference from the promise I made in my wedding vows to me telling you I'm going to bring an apple pie to your house on Friday when I'm not really sure if I'm going to have time to bake anything. In each case, someone is relying on what I say to be absolutely true. Are we talking about here big life promises or our daily interaction with others?
[Rick] (15:54 - 17:28) Well, we can be talking about all of it, but let's be clear about a couple of things that are very, very important. There are levels of promises. When you make a vow unto God, you have promised something that you have to keep, that you are bound to keep.
There is no vacillating on that. An example of a vow is us saying, I will walk in Jesus' footsteps, I will live a life of sacrifice, I will leave my humanity behind. That's a vow.
A marriage is literally in the Bible called a covenant of God. It is a high and lofty promise that you make in the presence of God, and you had better keep it. That is not something to be trifled with even for a second.
We've got to realize that those are very lofty promises. Now when we go to the rest of our lives, what we see is now we're dealing with the everyday things, and this is where we can become sloppy in our thinking and sloppy in our words and sloppy in our commitments. Those other two that you just talked about, Julie, there's no room for sloppy.
Those are the most serious things that we can be doing. Jesus is showing us now that we need to understand what's what, and we need to live in accordance with what is required of us in all ways. Jesus taught us that simple speech portrays a clear message and a righteous conscience.
Next scripture, before we read this--just introducing it--Matthew 5:33-37. Notice the clarity of what Jesus says we should and should not do. It helps with this question about promise making and promise keeping:
[Jonathan] (17:28 - 18:02) "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
But let your statement be Yes, yes, or No, no; anything beyond this is of evil."
[Rick] (18:02 - 18:45) Jesus is making it simple. Don't get flowery! Be clear. Just be clear.
If you work on your words, if you speak clearly, if you base your words on the of serving God as a disciple of Jesus, and you live that on a regular basis, you know what's going to happen? People are going to look at you, and when you say something, you're not going to need to get all kinds of, well, I promise, I think, just give me... You just do it, because that's what Jesus is describing.
He's describing clarity and spiritual maturity. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Be clear, and then act accordingly.
[Julie] (18:45 - 18:54) With all this in mind, let's get back to our original question: Does God punish us when we don't keep our promises? If so, what might that punishment look like?
[Rick] (18:55 - 19:12) All right, now you're getting into the area where I'm not going to give you a very good answer, probably, because I don't know, okay? I don't know. I am not going to judge the way the Master of the universe, the Master of our lives, puts things in order.
Can He punish us for breaking promises? Absolutely.
[Julie] (19:13 - 19:16) Because doing that is sinful, right? Breaking promises is sinful.
[Rick] (19:16 - 20:54) Absolutely. Right, right. There's lots of ways that we reap the consequences of that. Part of it is becoming lazy.
We can become lazy when we don't keep our promises, because then it's just words to put somebody off. Part of it is we can start to do that, and we start to feel guilt, and we start to feel shame. Those are natural consequences.
Another outgrowth of not keeping promises--which is to me one of the most enormous outgrowths--is you lose credibility with those around you. If you can't be trusted by your words, why would anybody trust you for your actions? It's just this sense of such clarity.
So does God punish? Sure, in whatever way He decides is appropriate. Here's the thing, though;
God is not going to "hunt us down" if we break our promises. Look, when you hunt somebody down, it means you don't even know where they are and you're looking for them. First, God doesn't have to do that.
Secondly, God doesn't have to carry a vendetta against you or me or anyone else. We've established that in so many other episodes. There's no vendetta here.
There's just a clarity of, you are a child of mine, and you're walking in a way that the integrity is questionable. I am going to provide experiences for you so you can grow through that. Now, is that being punished?
Sure. Is that a good thing? Absolutely, because we need to be saved from ourselves.
We disappoint God. We do, and I believe that wholeheartedly we disappoint Him when we go down these kinds of roads. Let's look at Ephesians 4:29-30.
[Jonathan] (20:54 - 21:10) This is from the Young's Literal Translation (YLT): "Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to the hearers; and make not sorrowful the holy spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption."
[Julie] (21:11 - 22:02) "Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth." That word for "corrupt" here means "rotten, putrefied, or worthless," but it also means "poor quality, unfit for use." It's not only vulgar or slanderous words, but words that are useless.
We want to use quality words, not useless ones. If we don't do what we say we're going to do, we're not reflecting Jesus very well. We're not really giving the most accurate Bible translation.
In studying for this, I realized that I've been making several commitments to people to do something and hadn't done them. Well, I just haven't had the time. Of course, I certainly found time to watch my favorite TV shows.
So I've circled back, and I am doing what I said I would. Sometimes we believe in what we say at the time, but we lack follow-through. We want integrity in our follow-through, or don't make the promise.
[Rick] (22:02 - 22:25) That is a great example of responding without needing to be "bopped on the head." That's part of how God can deal with us. This is where we get into Christian discipline.
Necessary Christian discipline comes in degrees, because sometimes we respond quickly, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer and a little bit harder.
[Julie] (22:25 - 22:27) A little bopping?
[Rick] (22:28 - 22:35) A little bopping here or there, yes. Let's look at Hebrews 12:5-6, and then we're going to go through a few more of these verses as we put this all in order.
[Jonathan] (22:36 - 23:02) This is in the context of considering what Jesus endured: <Hebrews 12:5-6> "And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons..." Then the Apostle Paul quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12.
"MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE (or training) OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED (or admonished) BY HIM;" What is meant by, "do not regard lightly the discipline" of God?
[Rick] (23:03 - 23:18) That word "discipline" really is the whole process of helping one grow. Don't regard lightly the discipline. Julie, you expressed that in your personal example.
You looked at it, you said, this isn't right, because you put it in order and said, oh, and then made the change. That's example of that.
[Jonathan] (23:18 - 23:22) What about do not lose heart when you are reproved by Him?
[Rick] (23:22 - 23:47) "Reproved" means "to be scolded." That's a little bit stronger than just saying, oh wait, something's wrong here. It's like being told something's wrong here.
You can read the scriptures or hear something from one of the brotherhood and say, oh wait, this is speaking to me. That's another way of God getting to us, helping us to right the ship in terms of keeping our word as we should. Let's continue with Hebrews 12:6:
[Jonathan] (23:47 - 23:59) "FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES (meaning he educates), AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." There are two points here. The next point, for the Lord disciplines those whom He loves.
[Rick] (24:00 - 24:13) The actions of discipline don't feel like love, but they are. As a parent, you know that discipline is required because you love your child, because you want them to walk in the same way.
[Julie] (24:13 - 24:15) It sounds like these are progressive.
[Rick] (24:16 - 24:16) Yes.
[Julie] (24:16 - 24:31) What about scourges? He scourges every child that He accepts. What's with that?
It means "to whip or flog." Scourging seems pretty harsh, the opposite of being accepted. Hebrews 5:8 says, "Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered." Does that fit in here?
[Rick] (24:31 - 25:03) Well, Jesus never had to be disciplined. See, Jesus only needed direction. We need correction so we can go in the right direction.
What this is saying is, sometimes you need that harsh experience that's going to shake you out of the lethargy of where you are and move you forward. That's the point of God's discipline. When we are not speaking truth to others by saying things we are not following through on, we are subject to God's discipline in whatever way He sees fit. Now, the end result of all of this is Hebrews 12:11:
[Jonathan] (25:03 - 25:24) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."
[Rick] (25:25 - 26:06) It's all about nurturing, learning, and stimulating us toward Christian maturity. When we are not speaking the truth, we need to recognize God will do what is necessary for us to learn it. What we need to learn by all of this is to grow into the high-level integrity of being a disciple of Christ. That's what we need to learn, the high-level integrity of being a disciple of Christ.
To do that, we need to embrace the scriptural guidelines for who we should be in our everyday lives. This is very simple, but it's hard to put in place. Our focus should be on those things that are eternal.
Let's look at us and our promises and our focus now. Focus on those things that are eternal, 1 Corinthians 9:24-25:
[Jonathan] (26:21 - 26:23) "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable."
[Rick] (26:51 - 27:03) Am I running the race so that I may win? Am I working on Christlikeness and putting myself aside and moving forward to those things. That should be my big picture. In that big picture, where do making promises come in? By now, folks, you should realize that what we are saying is that don't bother with the words--live the actions. Having said that, we should promise God our hearts. Now hang on; I'm not saying we say it. We should promise God our hearts by living each day with the determination to work at being completely faithful to our calling. Doesn't need a lot of words. It needs the doing.
2 Peter 1:10-11:
[Julie] (27:03 - 27:19) "Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."
[Rick] (27:20 - 27:53) "Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you." "Be diligent." Focus in.
Promise God, by the way you live today, by the way I'm going to live tomorrow, that's how I promise God my heart. Let me show you. Let me live it.
Let's move forward. We should promise the brotherhood, not necessarily with words, but by our engaged support, by living the way Jesus taught us to live, our engaged support of them in their lives.
[Jonathan] (27:53 - 28:11) John 15:12-13: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
Also, Galatians 6:2: "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."
[Rick] (28:12 - 28:52) Notice there's not a lot of talk there in either of those scriptures. "Love one another" in the way that I loved you. Then he showed them by dying.
Okay, "bear one another's burdens." Pick up the weight. Help them.
Walk with them. It's not a lot of, hey, I'll be there for you. It's being there.
It's showing up. It's doing the work. That's what Jesus taught us.
That's why making promises, probably not the best thing for us. Living those promises, that is where we want to dwell. We should promise the brotherhood our prayerful devotion, not by saying it a lot, but by regularly engaging in prayer for them.
Regularly engaging. Let's look at James 5:16:
[Julie] (28:52 - 29:02) "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
[Rick] (29:03 - 29:33) It's wonderful to tell the brotherhood you're praying for them. What's even better is to do the praying earnestly and often. Do the praying.
That's where it comes into play. It says "the...prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." It doesn't say saying you're going to pray for somebody accomplishes anything.
Do the work. We should promise all men our respect and love by living every day... Guess how?
...after the pattern of Jesus. Final scripture, Galatians 6:9-10:
[Julie] (29:33 - 29:52) "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." In summary, be a representative of Jesus.
Don't just talk about it. Be it. This is high-level integrity.
[Rick] (29:53 - 30:13) You can't get better than that. When you live it--when you actually live in that way--people are drawn to you. You know why?
Because you are reliable. You are sound. You are firm.
You give them security and hope because they know you're there. Words don't matter. They know you're there.
[Jonathan] (30:13 - 30:18) My takeaway from this is don't make promises.
Just do your best.
[Rick] (30:18 - 30:42) Yes. Do it in such a way that you put the spirituality and the example of Jesus first and foremost and say, I will be like that with those around me. There is a sense of security when we live that way for those around us. That's a way to bless others in a very, very high level.
It really comes down to our "Personal Promise Keeping:"
[Jonathan] (30:43 - 31:03) As Christians, our promises to any and all others should be focused on having our intentions and our actions be far louder and more convincing than any sweet-sounding and reassuring words we may have to offer. Expression through doing is far more powerful than confession through speaking.
[Rick] (31:03 - 31:52) Let's not forget that it comes down to what we do, not what we say. That's exactly, exactly how Jesus taught us to live. It wasn't about building up the big anticipation.
It was about watching him unfold God's plan step-by-step. It didn't matter who was in front of him, who was behind him, if they wanted to hurt him, if they needed him. It didn't matter if he needed solitude.
What mattered is I am doing the will of God. That is how we keep our promises. Think about it.
Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode: "What is True Friendship According to the Bible?"
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