Week 23 Day 4

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Make Oaths You Can Keep

The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.

Romans 16:20

Now let my soul arise,

And tread the tempter down;

My Captain leads me forth

To conquest and a crown:

A feeble saint shall win the day,

Though death and hell obstruct the way.

Do you make promises you can’t keep? Maybe that’s because you’re making too many of them. President Lincoln didn’t make many promises. He knew a vow was too important a thing to make and then break, so he would make an oath only when he knew it was something he could live up to. Using the Bible to explain his philosophy, Lincoln once said to a friend who asked him to make a promise, “Remembering that Peter denied his Lord with an oath, after most solemnly protesting that he never would, I will not swear to make a committal.” Lincoln looked to one of the most famous broken vows in history as an example of how even the most sincere vows can be broken under pressure. The next time you think about making a vow, first consider what it might take to keep it.