The Value of Our Promise

God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel; tell them, If any of you, man or woman, wants to make a special Nazirite vow, consecrating yourself totally to God, you must not drink any wine or beer, no intoxicating drink of any kind, not even the juice of grapes—in fact, you must not even eat grapes or raisins. For the duration of the consecration, nothing from the grapevine—not even the seeds, not even the skin—may be eaten. (Numbers 6:1-4)

It seems as though so many people throw promises around and never really follow through on them. They do not take their own word seriously, which is what causes so much distrust among people.

We must learn to value our promises to each other in the same way the Nazirites value their promises to God. We must treat our vows sacredly, and only make them when we are prepared to do so, and are certain that we have had enough time to think.

People of integrity do not make empty promises –they only give their word when they are a hundred percent sure that they can follow through. We must learn how to be people of integrity by taking our vows to one another, and even to ourselves, very seriously.