Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬-‭7‬
When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭6‬-‭8‬
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

“A man’s word is his bond.” “Reputation matters.” “Be a faithful partner.” These are all terms that reflect the importance of keeping our word, our vows, our promises.

I have also heard terms like this: “All is fair in love and war” or “All is fair in war and business”. These terms indicate a bending of our promises to get the results we want.

So what is most important to God is not the amount or value of things we swear on, but the integrity of our hearts. If I make a promise, I should do everything in my power to keep it. Usually those who have to swear by big things, I have found, can only be trusted as far as you can throw them.

This reminds me of a story: 17 years ago, I was out of work, and started a personal lines insurance agency. They promised to me that I could sell my business if it did not work out, on the open market (ownership), and I agreed to receive 33% less money (commission) for this right. Right after I started this personal lines agency, the crash of 2008 happened. I worked 60 hour weeks, cold-calling for clients 25 hours a week.

After a year or so, I had done everything I could do, but we were going into massive debt and I had to stop the bleeding. I shut the business down. In this process, the leaders at this national insurance company would not let me sell my business on the open market, but restricted the sale to either them (at a huge discount) or to someone who would keep the office front open. This cut out my best buyers, current successful agents, who already had an office.

I was frustrated, as I felt like they did not keep their word. And to top it off, the regional director over the agencies, when I was staring $147,000 of debt in the face, told me, “Well, you just got a college degree from the school of hard knocks.” I felt like clocking him in the face.

So here we were, my wife and I, with a big hole to dig out of. I had an attorney at the time recommend I declare bankruptcy and move on. I said, “No way.” I was going to pay this debt off the best I could, because I had promised to do so.

And over the next seven years, we did. God showed up in many ways to provide for us. My wife, Cherish, after being a stay-at-home mom for three years, was offered a position with a firm that required programming languages she did not know, and they gave her a 30% increase in pay from where she'd left her last job. I was able to start with a new brokerage and a past client moved over to me to help me get going. First time adventures: We bought and sold land at a 60% profit in one year. We bought restricted stock at a 700% profit another year. And slowly our debt began to erase.

The lesson I learned was: 1) God takes care of his faithful followers, 2) My reputation was worth more than a quick bankruptcy could ever get me, and 3) When we serve God we must reflect his heart. And in doing so, he will honor our faithfulness.

Lord, help me to continuously be a man of my word. I can only do this by your power and strength. Integrity matters to you and it matters to me too.