Conclusion of Keeping Our Promises Builds Trust

As Christians, we cannot adopt business practice that are dishonest or that ignore the legitimate  interests of others.  (Ephesians 2:2, 3; Hebrews 13:18)  To have Jehovah's favor as 'guests in his tent,' we must be trustworthy.  'Even if we have sworn to what is bad for us, we do not alter.' -Psalm 15:1, 4.

Judge Jephthah of Israel vowed that if God gave him victory over the Ammonites he would give to Jehovah as a burnt offering the first one who met him after returning from battle. That one turned out to be Jephthah's only child, but he did  not go back on his word. With his daughter's heartfelt agreement, he offered her for permanent service at God's sanctuary-a sacrifice that undoubtedly was painful and costly in various ways. -Judges 11:30-40.

Especially do congregation overseers have a responsibility to abide by their agreements.  According to 1 Timothy 3:2, an overseer should be "irreprehensible."   This is the rendering of a Greek term meaning "not able to be taken hold of, irreproachable, beyond reproach." It "implies no only that the man  is of good report, but that he is deservedly so."  (A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament) Since an overseer must be irreprehensible, his promises should always be reliable. 

Next time: Other Ways to Keep Our Promises

From the Watchtower magazine, 1999