I used to let my mouth get the best of me. I have learned to watch what I say very closely. The problem I have is this: because I’m trying to be so careful with what I say, I constantly think about whether I promise or vow something. My mind runs away from me and thinks the words of a promise. I’m not consciously trying to make a promise. And I’m afraid my thoughts will be taken as binding vows, oaths, or promises, even though I don’t verbally speak them. I’m not intending to make promises except where necessary. Does God take my thoughts as binding or only when I deliberately speak a promise?<\/p>\n\t
You are acting like the Pharisees of old, trying to distill God’s commands down to precise divisions instead of paying attention to what God said. “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one<\/em>” (Matthew 5:34-37). The point is that you say want you mean and mean what you say. For a Christian vows are totally unnecessary because they do not change a Christian’s behavior.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I used to let my mouth get the best of me. I have learned to watch what I say very closely. The problem I have is this: because I’m trying to be so careful with what I say, I constantly think about whether I promise or vow something. My mind runs away from me…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[648,647],"class_list":["post-33529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-promises","tag-vows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-treat-promises-i-fear-as-void-and-non-binding\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":0},"title":"Can I treat promises I fear as void and non-binding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello again! I've been wondering: since I suffer from OCD, then are all my promises, which I'm struggling to avoid, nullified the very moment I make them? The problem is that I'm having trouble knowing when my OCD mind is playing games with me or when it's really me\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":49413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-required-to-keep-promises-that-you-think-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":1},"title":"Are you required to keep promises that you think about?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm wondering if promises that randomly pop up in your head are considered valid. Are you required to keep the promises, even though they're just thoughts? I have OCD and get these thoughts constantly. They cause me a deal of anxiety. Also, in order to treat OCD, am\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":32155,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-are-promises-binding\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":2},"title":"When are promises binding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does it work like this? When we make a promise we are bound to do what we promised. The moment we confess and are sorry for making any promise we had made that very moment the binding is removed and has no more hold over us ever again after\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":93024,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-pursue-those-who-dont-keep-their-vows\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":3},"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":70785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-i-vow-not-to-make-promises\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":4},"title":"Did I vow not to make promises?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm worried that I vowed to God not to make promises. Now I was talking to God, and then in the heat of the moment, I said, \"I do not want to make vows,\" only I didn't say that fully, and I'm pretty sure I cut myself off halfway\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":44843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-broke-a-promise-upon-my-salvation-does-that-mean-i-cant-be-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":33529,"position":5},"title":"I broke a promise upon my salvation. Does that mean I can’t be saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I made a promise to God on my salvation and broke it. I accepted Jesus back, but did I lose my salvation because I broke my promise? I made my promise in my mind, so I don't know whether I meant it or not, so please answer if I\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33529","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=33529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}