Have you ever promised something that you later regretted?
Maybe you were in a meeting, and in excitement, you committed to an overwhelming task. Or in a moment of impatience, you might have promised your kids too much just to keep them quiet.
When emotions are high, we can so easily say things that we wish we didn’t.
Given this reality, it’s best to avoid making promises. It’s wise to lean on the side of being quiet rather than having your words get you into trouble.
Herod in the New Testament days wished he had followed this advice.
As the story goes, at his birthday banquet, he was so pleased by his wife’s daughter’s dance that he promised her, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom” (Mark 6:23 NIV).
If only he had imagined that, influenced by her ill-intentioned mother, she’d ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, he would have kept quiet.
Mark 6:26 goes on to say, “The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her” (NIV).
Just like Herod, it’s often our egos that lead us to make promises.
Wanting others to perceive us in a good way, we can too quickly open our mouths for the satisfaction it brings in the moment. And that same ego keeps us committed to our promise even when the cost is high.
So, how to avoid all of this? Simple. Keep quiet. When the urge to make a promise comes, think of the long-term impact rather than the good feeling it’ll bring in the moment.
The Wise Believer remembers that, “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity” (Proverbs 21:23 NIV).
