Let Your Yes be Yes

As a homeschool mom, I’m faced with many questions throughout the day from my children. Sometimes I have the right answers. Sometimes an interesting discussion ensues. And sometimes I respond without a lot of thought to my words. While I’d like to say that I always think before answering, I have to admit that there are times I just toss out an answer.

I don’t intentionally lie to my children (or anyone else, for that matter), but there are times when I’m overly busied, distracted, or just plain forgetful. I might tell one of my boys that we will do something later that day. But life happens, it’s time for bed, and the request falls through the cracks. As I say good night to my son, he kindly reminds me of my earlier response. I sigh as I let him know that I’ll do my best to include it tomorrow . . . or the next day.

Regardless of the cause, God wants me to be true to my word – to be dependable and reliable. I have to stop committing to things without taking the time to honestly think them through beforehand. Once I have committed in word, I have to be committed in action. That may require writing it in my day planner, putting a sticky note on my bathroom mirror, or even leaving myself a voice mail message. I can’t just trust my often-overloaded brain to keep it all together. The same applies to events or activities that are scheduled in the future. I still need to have a method in place so that I don’t lose that information.

I can also pray for God to help me remember, to help me follow through with what I’ve said. I can even ask Him to give me creative ways to remember things. He’s very smart like that, and often surprises me with the ideas He puts in my mind.

This is so important in every area of my life, but especially as I raise and disciple our boys. They need to know that they can trust my words. Whether it’s about something we plan to do, or a consequence that I’ve issued for behavior problems. When I don’t follow through on a promise, their trust in me diminishes ever so slightly. When it’s a consequence, they think they can get away with things. Or at least they figure it’s worth testing the limits on the chance that this is the time I’ll forget what I said. Either way, I’m not honoring God or my children.

My boys also need to learn to be trustworthy in their own words, and as their mom, I have an opportunity to model that. As they learn to trust me, this will translate to trusting God. I want to help them in that by building a foundation of honesty and integrity now.

Originally posted in March of 2008.