Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No...’
Matthew 5:36-37, And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Jesus talks about having integrity in this section, relative to several of the Ten Commandments. He raises the bar to include our thoughts and minds, in saying that “everyone who looks at woman with lustful intent” has already violated the law, even though he has not consummated a physical act. He raises the bar for marriage, for there were those who invented new divorce rules that allowed a man to put away his wife for any reason that he might invent to be dissatisfied with her. And he raises the bar about giving false testimony, that we should not have to swear by anything but simply tell the truth! How easy it is to overlook our own shortcomings.
We need your strength to have this kind of integrity; fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may walk as you walked.
ESV Lectionary
Jesus talks about having integrity in this section, relative to several of the Ten Commandments. He raises the bar to include our thoughts and minds, in saying that “everyone who looks at woman with lustful intent” has already violated the law, even though he has not consummated a physical act. He raises the bar for marriage, for there were those who invented new divorce rules that allowed a man to put away his wife for any reason that he might invent to be dissatisfied with her. And he raises the bar about giving false testimony, that we should not have to swear by anything but simply tell the truth! How easy it is to overlook our own shortcomings.
We need your strength to have this kind of integrity; fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may walk as you walked.
ESV Lectionary
posted by BenLaws at 4:35 AM
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