Yes be Yes, No be No

8-2-2010

Yes be Yes, No be No

I heard a very successful businessman say there’s only one person in the world you should trust, and that’s yourself. I don’t agree with this statement, but I certainly take the words to heart. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the business world, it’s you can’t trust anyone. People will lie to your face, say one thing and do another and it makes doing business very difficult. As a result, I have one rule that must be met before I will do any business deal: is there a level of trust with the person asking me to do business with them? The deal could look like the best deal in the world, but if I don’t trust the people in the deal, I’m out!

In Matthew 5:37 it reads, “simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’, anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Our world is so crooked; we have to exaggerate a point to prove we are telling the truth. People start off sentences with, “In all honesty,” “Seriously,” “I promise” and other statements that represent honesty. Jesus says it very simply, say the truth at all times and you won’t have to use the statements in the previous sentence.

Start to listen to the words you say when trying to prove a point, and if you have to use phrases such as, “In all honesty,” or “I promise” that might be the sign of a problem. Do you always tell the truth, or do you tend to stretch the truth at times? What might you do or not do, say or not say, that leads you to need to support your statements? Focus on telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth just as Jesus encourages us to do.

Application:
1. Read Matthew 5:33-37
2.Does your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No”?