Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? … Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Psalm 15:1,4
Whenever we first commit to something we usually have great intentions. Following through on those, however, is another story.
Have you ever made plans with a friend but didn’t confirm them and as the day wore on you were secretly relieved when they texted: “Hey, are we on for tonight? No worries if you’re not up for it!” As one comedian put it, “Percentagewise, it is 100 percent easier not to do things than to do them. And so much fun not to do them! Especially when you were supposed to do them.”[1]
Relationships are built on commitment and relationships create community, which is the way God intended for us to live. He went first in moving toward us in love and in keeping His promises. The Bible says, “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his [promise] for a thousand generations …” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
God planned for us to live with integrity with one another. And the Bible makes it crystal clear that God expects us to keep our word. It says that godly people “ … keep their promises even when it hurts” (Psalm 15:4). Think that sounds hard to do? It is. That’s why God says He will give us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. When you follow Him, the Bible says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). That power means He’ll help us keep our commitments to one another even when we’re tired or something more interesting has come along.
Honoring God and each other means showing up! Keeping your commitments matters more than you think.
[1] The Morning, The New York Times, October 11, 2025, https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/render?isViewInBrowser=true&nl=The+Morning&paid_regi=1&productCode=NN&sendId=207702&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F9da3167b-9eb9-5cbb-9002-e5cf4dfbcfa1.
