[Ivanovo]

Hi! It's me again. First of all, I thank everyone who've previously gave me advice. It was very helpful and I managed to pull myself out of darkness.

I recently was reading Jesus' sermon on the mount. One of the topics was 'swearing' or 'oaths'. I have always been curious / scared by it. As Christians, we tend to make 'vows' or 'promises' to God we will make a change, or read the bible, or stop watching porn etc. I've also done this when I was young. I wanted to stop watching porn. I remember my promise, it was 'before I manage to stop, I won't get a girlfriend.' This was a) to protect the girl whoever she may be, and b) to urge myself to stop. Obviously, I failed but within days stopped the relationship. That was the one and only one time.

The dilemma is, in our prayers, it is natural to make a vow to change/act for our own improvement. Or are we not suppose to do this? And what will happen if we break a promise?

[Wondergirl]

We don't make deals with God. Of course, there's room for improvement for each of us, but wheeling and dealing with God is not how to do this.

"The point of this passage is integrity. Jesus observes that since God witnesses every word we say anyway, we should be able to tell the truth without having to call God to witness by a formal oath. Jesus is addressing a popular abuse of oaths in his day."

"Making vows (promises) to God lightly is a severe offense (compare Acts 5:1-11). Oaths that invite penalties on oneself for violating them ("cross my heart and hope to die") are unnecessary for people of truth."

Oaths Are a Poor Substitute for Integrity

[smearcase]

What Wondergirl said!
Listened to a preacher for whom I have a lot of respect preach on that very topic about 2 hours ago.
In addition to what WG has said, the pastor said that vowing (like I swear to God I will... whatever) is equivalent to taking God's name in vain/swearing. I have a lot of work to do on that myself.
As far as what happens, my guy says that when you vow to change something in your life in God's name, God essentially steps back and says Ok, you are own your own now, and if my guy was right about it being equivalent to taking God's name in vain, it is of course a matter of breaking a commandment.

[dwashbur]

I'm not sure I buy everything that preacher said, but it's something to consider. "Taking God's name in vain" in the context of the Ten Commandments actually means taking his name falsely; which is to say, swearing by God to something you know isn't true. So I wouldn't go so far as to say that any vow amounts to violating the commandment. But Jesus did say that it's best to let your yes be yes and your no be no, because if your regular word can't be trusted, why would you think invoking God as witness would change anyone's suspicions?

I'm also not sure where he got that picture of what happens, though it does conjure up some fun images. Me, since I totally acknowledge that I sometimes create God in my own image, I think every time someone goes to make a deal with God, He just facepalms. And to answer the OP, what happens if we break one of those promises? I think God just nods and says "Big surprise. Not."

[classyT]

I agree with Dave. If we are people of truth and integrity our word should be enough and we need not make oaths and swear.

I heard Ann Graham Lotz, Billy Graham's daughter tell a story. She said she was in a bible class and the speaker asked everyone what God expected from us. Well the list in her mind went on and on. Prayer, obedience, loving etc, etc. Then the speaker answered his own question by saying what God expects from us is to sin. BUT he gave us the Holy Spirit so wouldn't have to.

If you have prayed to the Lord and vowed not to do this or that and you did it anyway, he isn't holding that against you. What he wants you to focus on is who you are in Christ. When you accepted Jesus you were already made righteous before him. When we really believe this, we start to behave accordingly.

[dwashbur]

Naturally, I'm not immune to this whole idea. When I was 7, I made a deal with God. If he'd give me a family, he could have everything else. Hey, I was 7. What did I know?

Thing is, if you saw my life story, you'd say "God took that deal seriously!"

[Fr_Chuck]

We do not and can not make a deal with God. God's "deal" is already made, done and paid for. God gives us the rules to live by and gives us the strength and ability to do it, without any additional promises. You can tell God you are going to try, but not by giving up something you should give up, in fact, living a wrong life style is what he wants you to give up anyway

[gromitt82]

We do not and can not make a deal with God. God's "deal" is already made, done and paid for.

Totally in agreement with Fr. Chuck. We are not to make any deals with God. God sent us Jesus to show us the path we have to follow to eventually reach God's Kingdom and all we have to do is to follow it.

Gromitt82

[dwashbur]

Instead of trying to make a promise to God or a deal with God, try telling him you desperately want to change this behavior but you can't do it on your own, and beg for his help. That's the only way anything is going to change anyway, so you may as well jump straight to the solution that has a chance of working.

[graceyj20]

Very interesting question. On this topic, the bible provides many thoughts that we can take guidance from. Consider:

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." (ESV)

Psalm 24:3-5 "Who shall ascend into the hill of Jehovah? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, And hath not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, And righteousness from the God of his salvation." (ASV)
This speaks very well of those who do not make sworn oaths deceitfully as being righteous before god.

Hebrews 6:18
"These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he says something, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath." (ERV) When God makes an oath, he has every intention to follow through on it. Would he not expect a good faith effort for us to keep our promises to him?

Two Israelite spies made a promise to Rahab of the city of Jericho. They promised that both her and her family that were in her house would be kept safe during the attach and subsequent destruction of the city.
Joshua 2:17 "We are free from guilt respecting this oath of yours that you have made us swear" (NWT)
When God made the walls of Jericho fall he honored their oath by not having her home collapse as it was attached to the walls. "for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall" (Joshua 2:15, KJV)
While this was not an oath to God, it was an oath from his servants who were working to accomplish a task he directed. God respected their oath and helped it come about. (Joshua 6:17).

When one dedicates their life to pursuing gods will they are making a promise to God that they will abide by his commands and seek to do his will. Past this, we are under no compulsion to make a promise or swear an oath to God to do anything in specific. If we on our own accord choose to make an oath to God and it's in harmony with his will, we should do our best to fulfill our word to God. Promises to God should not be taken lightly nor given as a whim or spur of the moment sort of thing. One should seriously contemplate the long term implications and feasibility of any promise, especially if your making it to God.