“The harmony of our words and deeds is how we become reliable friends and trustworthy leaders.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 17, 2024
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24, NIV
I try to avoid being overly “preachy” with my children, though, after more than a decade as a vocational minister, they’ve come to expect a mini-sermon from time to time. In recent weeks, I have found myself saying a version of the same thing over and over again: “Do what you say you will do.” In countless ways, this single word of wisdom will serve them more than they can possibly know.
The harmony of our words and deeds is how we become reliable friends and trustworthy leaders.
As children, the Lord gives us a training ground upon which lifelong virtues are shaped and formed. We learn to clean our room when we say we’ll clean up. If we’re responsible for caring for the family dog, we learn the value of ownership and see how our individual actions contribute to the well-being and peace of the entire family. And when we step in and help a sibling in their time of need, we see how we are able to love and support others through consistent acts of faithful service.
These lessons plant seeds of reliability that blossom and grow into the virtues of adulthood. Reliability is the heart of a faithful marriage. It begins with “I do,” yet vows made in a single moment are proven to be true over a lifetime of fidelity and sacrificial love. At the altar, you say what you’re going to do, yet in many ways, that’s the easy part! Wisdom is found when we resolve daily to do what we said we would do. The same is true in our professional lives. You prove yourself to be an exceptional employee when your boss knows from experience that if you say you’re going to do something, you will do it. You become an anchor of reliability that frees others to live more fully into who they have been called to be.
Of course, the opposite is also true. When our words and deeds do not align, we prove ourselves to be unreliable and untrustworthy, and unlike childhood, the stakes couldn’t be any higher. A lack of reliability shatters our most intimate relationships and wreaks havoc upon our careers, sometimes beyond any hope of repair. And so, choose today to keep yourself and others from ruin, and learn to live by this simple yet profound truth: do what you say you will do.
Prayer
Father, give us the strength and courage to be trustworthy and reliable people, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Consider ways that your words and deeds are misaligned. How can you become a reliable friend, spouse, and employee, doing what you say you will do?
Related Reading
John 15:13; Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 27:9
Worship Resource
Brooke Ligertwood: Bless God
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