\u201cIf a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution.\u201d (Exodus 22:10-11)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Trust-300x199.jpg\")
In a culture where truth is seen as relative, it is difficult at times to take others at their word. When the very nature of truth is in question, how shall we believe anyone? No one wants to be gullible. Yet consider what the Lord expected of His people. If one makes an oath that he did not, in this case, harm his neighbor\u2019s property, then that was enough. The man\u2019s word was to be accepted. No further action was required.<\/p>\n
Among Christians especially, we know we are to be people of our word (James 5:12), and we are also to be people of love who bear, believe, hope, and endure all things (I Corinthians 13:7). Start with the best assumptions. Believe the best of another. Assume the person is telling the truth. Don\u2019t be so suspicious of everyone. This is difficult because cynicism has become so ingrained in our culture.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean we are to be gullible, but it does mean we may be vulnerable and we can get hurt. The problem is that we can let how one person hurt us bleed over into other relations so that we trust no one. This can turn us into angry, bitter people who no longer know how to love. God does not want that for us.<\/p>\n
There is no way to have loving relationships and fellowship if we are not willing to show trust. In a fellowship of believers, especially, we ought to be trusting and willing to assume the best of our brothers and sisters. A yes means yes, a no means no, and those words ought to be sufficient for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Whit Sasser \u201cIf a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[527,129],"class_list":["post-14664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-honesty","tag-trust"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93024,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-pursue-those-who-dont-keep-their-vows\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":0},"title":"Does God pursue those who don’t keep their vows?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, dear pastor, I have a question for you.\u00a0\u00a0Today, while I was reading the Bible, I read Deuteronomy 23:21: \"You must not delay in repaying your vows to the Lord your God, for the Lord your God will seek you back, and you are guilty if you do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9117,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-swear-an-oath-on-a-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":1},"title":"Can a Christian swear an oath on a Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a Christian place his hand on the Bible and swear an oath of any kind? Or, raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth, in a courtroom? Or, can a Christian swear, anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances? I find a difference in the word 'affirm' and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69367,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-self-incrimination\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Self-Incrimination","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Law required two or more witnesses to a crime. A person admitting to a crime would be insufficient gain a conviction. Deuteronomy 17:6 \"On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94006,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/swearing-not-at-all-understanding-jesus-prohibition-in-light-of-the-whole-counsel-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":3},"title":"Swearing Not at All \u2014 Understanding Jesus\u2019 Prohibition in Light of the Whole Counsel of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Becky Ren\u00e9 Few biblical subjects appear, at first glance, as straightforward as the prohibition against swearing found in the words of Jesus and James. \"Swear not at all\" seems plain, uncompromising, and universal. For this reason, some conclude that any oath-taking in any circumstance-including legal oaths required by civil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preach-the-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":4},"title":"Preach the Word","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Jefferson David Tant \"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7665,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/promises-promises\/","url_meta":{"origin":14664,"position":5},"title":"Promises, Promises","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Matthew 23:16-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to a old and seemingly popular statement - Matthew 5:33 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This and the other five quotes are introduced by the phrase \u201cYou have heard it was said to those of old\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is not the usual way that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}