The preacher of God’s words has many responsibilities. One such responsibility concerns his obligation to charge believers to live their lives in such a way that they may be void of blame. Paul gave Timothy instructions concerning one’s treatment of other believers (especially widows). This is not the only scriptural admonition to avoid blame. In fact, the scripture is filled with instructions dealing with other subjects meant to help the believer avoid being justly blamed. God instructed the man of God to teach and preach these truths in order to guide the believer. It remains each believer’s responsibility to believe the words of God and live in accordance with those words so as not to bring reproach upon the name or cause of Christ.
A basic definition of communication involves making things common. When we speak to others, we express what is in our minds and hearts making those thoughts common with others. The Bible warns the believer in Ephesians 4:29 to “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” The words that come out of our mouths should edify or build up others, not demean and degrade them. They should be strengthened by what we say. Keep in mind that corrupt communications weaken the believer (1 Corinthians 15:33). This is why Christians are instructed to put off all “filthy communication” (Colossians 3:8).
Our verbal communications involve the words that spring forth from our mouths. No doubt, the Lord considers these communications important and we should too. In today’s passage, the Lord gave some specific insights concerning His expectations of our communication. First, He wants our communication to be short and to the point – “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:37; see also Proverbs 10:19; Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7). Second, our word should be validated without the necessity of certifying it with vows, oaths, and swearing. In the context of the passage, the Lord Jesus forbade swearing “by heaven” (Matthew 5:34), “by the earth” (Matthew 5:35), or “by thy head” (Matthew 5:36). When we swear by these things, we put ourselves in danger of condemnation (James 5:12). Let your nay be nay and your yea be yea!
