When are promises binding?<\/a>]. If I understand this correctly you are saying I shouldn’t need to make promises, I shouldn’t make promises. You then go on to say that only under the law or by God I should make promises but only if they are needed. I really don’t want to give up my hobby, I want to repent of making the foolish vow I just hope this is possible.<\/p>\nGod’s blessings and I await your reply<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
What is missing is why you thought you could bribe God by promising to give up something you like. People foolishly get into their heads that they can get God to answer their prayer by offering neglect. “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh<\/em>” (Colossians 2:20-23). God doesn’t listen to people because of what they want to sacrifice. He hears the prayers of the righteous — those who put God’s will first in their life. “The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous<\/em>” (Proverbs 15:29).<\/p>\nThe whole foundation of what you tried to do was wrong. It doesn’t matter what you thought you were offering. It doesn’t matter whether you think it is a good, bad, or neutral thing.<\/p>\n
Now that the “crisis” is over, you want to change the terms. Again, what is missing is the background of this story. You are caught up in the details, but there is more here than you are revealing. Because of this gap, I can’t answer your question because I think there is something critical that you are leaving out.<\/p>\n
What Jesus said is that Christians are people of their word. “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one<\/em>” (Matthew 5:37). We don’t need elaborate promises, vows, or oaths to keep our word. Christians are to be always honest, which means we simply do exactly as we stated, promised or not.<\/p>\nAt the very least, you need to stop thinking you can manipulate God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, I am having real trouble with something at the moment, I fear that I have made a vow\/oath to God that I really don’t want to keep. The vow does not contain anything sinful, I fear I said “I would give up my hobby.” The hobby is not sinful and I really like…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[648,647],"class_list":["post-34887","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":31695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-couldnt-stop-myself-and-made-a-vow-that-god-says-i-have-to-keep\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"position":0},"title":"I couldn’t stop myself and made a vow that God says I have to keep","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can I have your opinion about Ecclesiastes 5:4-7? \"When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.\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":31692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-compulsively-making-vows-in-my-mind-do-i-have-to-keep-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"position":1},"title":"I am compulsively making vows in my mind. Do I have to keep them?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have been going through a time of struggles dealing with so many vows: some intentional and others intrusive or unintentional. I am sure this is greatly related to OCD, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way. For example, one time I was praying and an intrusive thought\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":93590,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-i-break-a-vow-i-made-due-to-ocd\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"position":2},"title":"Did I break a vow I made due to OCD?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, I struggle with intrusive thoughts, doubts, fears, and compulsive behaviors. This is the way it has tended to show up for me: Example 1: Walking down the sidewalk and thanking God for a beautiful day Thought: \"You should kneel on the sidewalk to pray publicly.\" I would\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":38803,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-constitutes-a-vow\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"position":3},"title":"What constitutes a vow?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffrey, What constitutes a vow is something I've been trying to understand. Can you help me understand from the Bible why you say it's a commitment witnessed by others? It seems like these thoughts I have could be considered rash vows, or they could not be vows at\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":70785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-i-vow-not-to-make-promises\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"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":41946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-god-hold-a-vow-i-made-against-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":34887,"position":5},"title":"Will God hold a vow I made against me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am a Christian. If you can answer this question for me, I would be very thankful. When I was a child I had an obsessive-compulsive disorder. In my thoughts, I would say things that I didn't mean and sometimes things that I meant, but I could not\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\/34887","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=34887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}