TheeSoulFuel Podcast
Welcome to your essential pitstop, where your soul gets the fuel it needs for life’s journey. In Christ, faith is the vehicle steering us through every twist and turn. Join us as we dive into real conversations about real-life challenges, all viewed through the lens of scripture. Don’t leave empty—come and be filled with the wisdom, strength, and grace to keep going.
TheeSoulFuel Podcast
Keep Your Word
What does it truly mean to live with integrity? Join us on this enlightening episode of the Soul Fuel podcast as we explore the profound lesson from Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:37—letting your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no." Discover how this simple yet powerful principle is a cornerstone for maintaining integrity in every aspect of our lives. We delve into the perils of indecisiveness, referencing James' teachings about double-mindedness, and how wavering commitments can erode our moral fiber and lead us astray from our promises.
Integrity goes beyond mere honesty; it’s about being whole and undivided in our principles. This episode uncovers how true integrity ensures security and builds trust, contrasting it against the deceits often perpetrated on social media. Using personal stories, we demonstrate the crucial role of integrity in fostering trust and respect in both parental and professional relationships. We draw parallels to God's unwavering nature and His fulfillment of promises, underscoring the importance of living an honest and upright life.
As we conclude, we stress the vital role of integrity for believers, emphasizing the importance of being guided by the Holy Spirit to live a life of peace, joy, and righteousness. We discuss the need for accountability and the dangers of false teachings. Through personal anecdotes, we highlight the necessity of admitting faults and correcting mistakes as essential components of a life of integrity. Our heartfelt thanks go out to our listeners for their continued support. Stay connected with us across various platforms, and tune in next Monday for more soul-enriching content. Your integrity is the bedrock of your faith and relationships—cherish and nurture it.
Jesus says this.
Speaker 1:He says, but let your statement be yes, yes or no.
Speaker 1:No, anything beyond these is of evil.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute. Hold up Jesus. What up everybody. It's the soul fuel podcast, the pit stop for you to get your soul fueled up for your journey in life. I'm your host, willie robbins, the third, aka pastor will, and listen. I'm so excited to have you, uh, listen to this episode today because because this is a really good one, this is a really good one.
Speaker 1:I believe that everybody is going to start paying attention to what they're saying and what they're doing a little more often, because today I want to just get into talking about keeping your word. Your word is all you have. I know, as a man, my word is all I have. When I was coming up, my dad, all he had with me really was his word, of course, his integrity, and so we want to talk a little bit about integrity today, how you need to have integrity with everything that you do. How can you have favor with God and favor with man? Well, it's simple. All you have to do is do what you said. Do what you said. You said you loved him. You said you worship him. You said you adore him. You said you do all of these things right, and so if you can't have integrity with the Lord, you won't have integrity with people out in the world. You just won't. This is a fact, and so this draws me to a scripture that I want to read today, and it's coming from Matthew, chapter 5, verse 37.
Speaker 1:Jesus says this.
Speaker 1:He says but let your statement be yes, yes or no.
Speaker 1:No, anything beyond these is of evil.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold up. Jesus, you said that your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything else beyond that is of evil. Well, how so I begin to sit with this thing, y'all, and it kind of messed me up, because I'm like okay, so I can't not know, like I don't, I'm, I'm having a hard time trying to figure this out. Are you saying I'm, I, I have to know, I have to understand. And it began to make more sense to me, because then James uh pops up and comes to mind, and, and, and comes to my, it comes up in my spirit and I'm like okay, james says don't have a double mind.
Speaker 1:Basically, a double-minded man is unstable in everything that he does, everything that they do. Um, you don't know, you don't know, you don't know so. But jesus, before james even says this, jesus says let your yes be yes or no be no. Anything beyond these is evil. And this makes so much sense because you have to understand something. When you don't really know what you want to do, you often choose the thing that you probably shouldn't do, and this is not in every case, but just in in the case of where all things where, where you to, as I just said, in certain cases, but no, like when you live a life that is unsure, then it's easy to go against your word.
Speaker 1:So how does a double-minded man that is unstable in everything that he does? How does that relate to what Jesus says when he says let your statement be yes. If your statement be yes, let it be yes, and if your no is a no, then let it be no. Don't be indecisive, don't be indecisive. And so there are other scriptures that go along with this, as we just read Matthew, chapter 5, verse 37, and just to put it in context, matthew, chapter 5, verse 37, this is Jesus speaking on, you know, not making an oath or swearing. Or he says in verse 36, nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be yes, yes or no. No, anything beyond these is of evil. And I believe that it would go back to what, uh, james says in the book of james right, like a double-minded man, is unstable in all of his ways. And in another part of james he talks about how he says cleanse your hands. You sinners, you double minded, right, you double minded. Those that say that you love the Lord. You say that you love God. You said yes, let it be yes, and if it's going to be no, then let it be no. Remember, jesus talks about being lukewarm. I'd rather you be hot or cold. This is the same thing. All of that goes together, right? So here I have Proverbs, chapter 10, verse 9.
Speaker 1:It says whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. See, walking in integrity simply means that you're walking in a way that you know you're sure of. Right, I can't walk in uncertainty. I can't walk in uncertainty. When I walk in uncertainty, I'm walking in a way where it's easy for me to make a decision out of my flesh, meaning that if I say that, I give my word towards a thing, I give my word to somebody. If I give my word to my wife, I give my word to my children. I give my word. I have to have integrity to be able to go back and say what I can and what I cannot do. This is very interesting because I want to give you the definition of integrity. I want to give you the definition of integrity.
Speaker 1:Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness, the state of watch this here. It is the state of being whole and undivided. My God, my God. Integrity, the second definition for integrity is the state of being whole and undivided. In other words, this means when you have integrity, there is no room for double mindedness. There is no room to have a double mind.
Speaker 1:When you are a person of integrity, it is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. This is why, when you do away with the elementary principles of the world, such as lying, such as lying your way to the top, lying your way into a position, lying your way into different platforms, even people on social media that stunt for the gram people that do it, for the gram people that do it, for TikTok, people that do it for Facebook, people that do it just to appear a certain way, watch this. That's a double mind, because they already know that they don't really have it like this. They just want to project something that is not true. So that means they have no integrity. And when you come across these kind of people, listen. Of course we got to pray for everybody, but you got to learn how to stay away from people that have no integrity Because, again, when you don't have integrity, you are a liar and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. Right, and if you are a liar, then jehovah's not your father, satan is your father, because satan is the father of lies. Scripture tells us, right, but? But I just can't get over this definition of integrity.
Speaker 1:The second part. The second part says the state of being whole and undivided. See, when the Lord has your undivided attention, you are made whole. Right, when the Lord has your undivided attention, you are made whole. This means that you are letting your yes be yes and your no to the devil means no. A lot of people can't really break free because they have no integrity, but a lot of people can't break free from habits because they don't have any integrity. They don't have what it takes to say no to the devil. They don't have what it takes to say no to the devil. They don't have what it takes to say no to bad habits. They don't have what it takes because they choose not to believe God in everything that he said that he would do, that he can do, and even the things that he's already done. They don't believe him enough to realize that he's the first one that had integrity.
Speaker 1:What did he? What did he say? What did the father say in in Genesis? What he was going to do to the devil? He was going the the seeds, how he was going to bring forth something. Basically, he was prophesying and threatening and holding on to his word that he told the devil I'm getting ready to send something. I know what you did, I know what you did, Satan, but guess what I'm getting ready to do? In so many words, he's basically saying I'm I'm gonna send my son, I'm getting, I'm getting ready to come down in the, in the, in the sun, jesus, and I'm getting ready to turn this thing around because you have perverted what I intended.
Speaker 1:You have tried to pervert my integrity, and the Lord is honest. There is no other way for the Lord to be but honest, because he is God and he has a strong moral principle. He has strong moral principles, he is honest, he is upright right and he is holy. And if he is holy, this means that he is his. The, the mind state of the lord is nothing but whole, it's not half. He is so sure about everything that he does. The lord does not slack or lack concerning his promises. He will provide, he will perform, he will do everything that he said he will do. Why? Because he is a holy God. He is a God of integrity and when his yes is yes, his no is no. And if you listen to the last episode we talked a little bit about, when the Lord says no, it is what it is. He knows what he is doing.
Speaker 1:When I was growing up my dad you know when there were things that I would want maybe it was for Christmas or different events, different things that that were going on. If I ever needed something, or if I asked my dad for something, I can honestly and truthfully say that he would say you know, we'll see. Depending on what it is, he say we'll see, and if he said he'll do it, he either did it or before he, before he would let me know he couldn't do it. Then sometimes I would find out when I needed it that he couldn't do it, but he tried, right. And so, as a father, that's really all you have. That's what children have, just really.
Speaker 1:As a parent in general, for a mother who's listening in the court, for any any person in in uh, a parental, uh role, your integrity is what you got, even on your job, that's what you have. And so my dad, being able to come back and be honest and say, okay, I'm not gonna be able to do it or we're not doing this, you know, it's one thing right. And then there's this other balance of having integrity when you know you can't do something. But then, for example, my children would. I would always, even now, because they're still small, when they want to do something, I will, or their mother will, you know, give some stipulations, some requirements. Okay, in order to be able to do this, you got to do xyz, you got to make sure you have good grades, and then we'll go here or we'll do this, right, and we, we, we say these things so that it will give them some type of incentive so that they could do right, right, right.
Speaker 1:You don't always need an incentive and we don't always give our children incentives for them to do right. We want them to do right because they're supposed to do right. You don't get a reward for doing right all the time. You do right because that's what is expected of you. And this is how the modern-day Christian operates, is they do good and then they look up. It reminds me of like when I was training our dog Samson. You know, you know, every time I tell him good job, good sit or good stay, he always looking for the treat. But he wants to get up and he wants to look for the treat because he felt like he did good. And so it came a time where I had to stop giving him rewards for doing what I commanded him to do.
Speaker 1:And so I say that in order to go back to our children, to say that having integrity also means that you cannot, as a parent or authoritative figure, you cannot manipulate what you said you were going to do or change what you said you were going to do based on their actions, or blame it on their actions when you really couldn't do it, if that makes sense, like don't. Don't say, uh, we not, we not going to six flags, or we're not going to disney world, we're not going out of town because y'all cut up. No, just say you can't do it because you don't have, you don't have the funds or things. Change plans, change you got to work or whatever it is. Just say that. But you can't.
Speaker 1:And especially and really only if it's really that, if you're really being honest as to that being the reason and I'm just using my children as an example, but you have to think about this the same way, when you make promises to people, don't say that you're going to do it and then, if they make you mad in the process, you don't, you don't do it. So and listen, that speaks a lot to the love of God in your life. That speaks a lot to the love of God in your life keeping your word, regardless of how you feel. And this actually speaks on a different level. You got to keep your word regardless of how you feel.
Speaker 1:You may not feel like I mean, I feel like taking my children to the movies. I may not feel like taking my children out to go get something to eat, but I told them that I would, and sometimes my wife would be like she was like, hey, they ain't been good anyway. You know I'm like, nah, well, we told them. You know, at times we do play that card because it's necessary sometimes to, to to let them know that their behavior hey, your behavior does not warrant this. So you're not going to get a pass this time we're not doing it. And then they're like man, and so they get that.
Speaker 1:But the moment you begin to abuse it, the moment they start to take in that, okay, they don't know. They may not know the word integrity, but they know that you don't do what you say, they know that you don't do what you say, they know that you don't do what you say. And that's one of the worst things that you could ever do is build that type of mentality in your children and again, I'm just using my children as an example. But you don't want to instill that mentality in anybody around you, anybody that knows you, especially, really especially, if you're in Christ. Right, this is a pretty much a word for generally, for anybody, but I'm talking to the Christian, I'm talking to the believer today, because this is the SoulFuel podcast and this is you know, you get your soul fueled up with a fuel that helps you for this journey in life, right? So you need to understand that your word, like they say in New York I don't know like some of y'all New Yorkers that listen to this, don't kill me for what I'm about to say we're going to say like word is bond, son. Like word is bond, like word is all you got like for real.
Speaker 1:And Jesus, what Jesus came to do, all he had was his word. Of course, he had his power, he had all of these things, these other things to go along with that, but he had his word and so it was either the the people were gonna they believe. Uh, he worked signs and miracles, he did wonders, he did these things, but he wanted people to believe him for his word more than anything. Of course, see the great works that he does, see all of the amazing things that he did, but his word, he wants you to believe on him. Why do we know it was his word key?
Speaker 1:Because he says believe on me, as the scriptures have said, and out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. There's a river of living water. The spirit, the Holy Spirit, brings peace like a river. It brings peace, it brings joy. It brings all of these things that well up in you to cause you to be in this, in this mind state, so that you have no choice but to have integrity. You have no choice but to walk, even as he did. So whoever walks in integrity walks securely because you are sure you are whole. You walk in integrity when you are sure, when you are whole, and so you have to make sure that you make it your business to walk diligently according to the standard of God.
Speaker 1:This has been the most prevalent thing that I believe the church is missing. Right, because how can you say you love God but you're doing different things? You can't keep your word. And if you can't keep your word, you can't keep his word. Right, it's like what Paul says in Titus when he writes to preachers. He says how can you be an overseer, how can you be a pastor or a shepherd over God's house, when your own house is in disarray? You must first have control over your house so that you may be able to govern righteously over the Lord's house.
Speaker 1:Right, and so integrity, again, is about being honest. So it's not so much that the fact that you can't do it, or the fact that you may not be able to be successful at what it is that you are trying to do or the thing that you said that you would do, but it's about the honesty of being able to come back and say, hey, I can't do it this time. Hey, even your integrity with the Lord, because I'm one that would always, that will always, teach and preach that we are able to live free from sin, right, but integrity simply says it is again is a quality of honesty that knowing that if you have sin, you come back, you make it right with the Lord, you don't continue in sin in the hopes that grace may abound. Paul said God forbid, it's not so. That's not what it should be, but you should always take accountability for your actions. Do what you said. Let your your yes be yes, your no be no, all right. Because, again, if you walk in integrity, you walk securely.
Speaker 1:And the other part of that says but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Your fall, a lot of people's fall from grace, people who go back. They go back to sin. They were running well, but they were hindered because they decided to listen to a false gospel, false message that caused them to go back into sin, go back into a life of living that isn't conducive to the lifestyle of a believer, and eventually that fall is going to expose them, and it's not necessarily that they will be exposed to people. Now, people that walk in the spirit or walk by the spirit will know them by their fruit Right, but the crooked path will be found out. That's why it's best to walk in integrity. That's why it's best to be honest.
Speaker 1:We see this in the news. We see this with Mr Diddy Do it, mr Diddy, do it, mr Diddy Do it. We see it with him. We see no integrity. We see how people try to escape trouble by not being honest and all you do is essentially, you make it worse, you make it worse, you make it worse. So integrity is a key ingredient to righteous living.
Speaker 1:Integrity is something that you have to have in the workplace. When you tell your supervisor or your boss what it is that you're going to do, you must do that. If you give them a specific time, you must be at that. You must do what it is that you're supposed to do at that time. I've been guilty of it on my previous job not being on time. I've been guilty of not being on time for a morning prayer Many times.
Speaker 1:I've asked everybody on the live like, hey, y'all forgive me. I said I was going to be here at six and everybody's like, no, it's okay, pastor, you good, you good? No, it's not, I'm not good. I'm not good because I told you and that was in me, because, again, I don't walk in the flesh. And this is not to exalt myself, to make myself feel like I'm uh, I'm, I'm on top of everybody.
Speaker 1:No, it's just to show you that this is the human side, this is the imperfection, and it's only sin if you refuse to correct it. It's not just that, it's only sin, um, to based on your conviction. If it convicts you and I believe that I owe the people an apology Was the Holy Spirit led? I just felt it was the right thing to do. I don't necessarily think I don't believe that the Holy Spirit led me to apologize, but I know that if people are expecting you, if you, if you say something, then you need to be about it. So I believe that the righteous thing in in that situation of not of you know, when you haven't been showing up on time, is to apologize, right. So, yeah, people give you grace and and people and people have given me grace, people still, you know, show up to the live, show up to the live and things like that.
Speaker 1:But it's just important that you do not rest in those insufficiencies. You shouldn't rest in that imperfection. If that makes sense, whatever needs fixing, fix it. If you have the power to fix it, you can fix it Right. Psalm 25, 21 says may integrity and uprightness protect me because my hope, lord, is in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me. May integrity and uprightness protect me because my hope, lord, is in you.
Speaker 1:And this is the NIV version. I'm quoting scripture from NIV. When your hope is in the Lord, when your hope is in the Lord, you are protected. Because of who you hope in, you are protected, right, you can't say that you aren't. You can't because it's your integrity, your ability to be honest. This is one of the things that the Lord loved about David is that he was willing to be honest Even in the moments where he wasn't thinking things through.
Speaker 1:And we have to also understand, because I know a lot of people like to draw parallel. A lot of New Testament Christians like to draw parallel to the imperfections of Old Testament figures right. Many try to compare today's sin with the actions of those in the Old Testament, when we often forget that those in the Old Testament didn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They didn't have that extra help. It was tough for them then.
Speaker 1:Daniel's faith was based on his strong love for God and the fact that he knew that Jehovah was using him through dreams and being able to interpret dreams and being able to interpret dreams. Moses had an anger issue, but the Lord still used him. Noah may have gotten drunk and was naked after the flood. You know, samson had a thing for Babylonian women, women that he was not supposed to be involved with, but the Lord wanted to keep his word. It didn't matter. It mattered who he used, because he was very specific in who he used. But he kept his word All the way, from the beginning, even in Genesisesis again, genesis, chapter three, when he tells the devil what he's getting ready to do. He does it through all of these, but he's. He does it through all of these, uh, um, these, this, this one lineage. The lord does these things to all of these different.
Speaker 1:So let your integrity prove that you really are for the Lord by letting your yes be yes and your no's be no. Proverbs 11 and verse 3 says this the integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. You have to be able to perform to the level that you said that you were able to perform. You have to be able to live up to everything that you said. It's your word. It's your word. You took in his word, you because you believed his word. And when you prove the way that you prove that you believe his word is through your actions, it's through your actions. Your integrity will guide you. Your integrity will guide you. First, peter, chapter three, verse 16 says keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. These scriptures definitely emphasize the importance of living with integrity, honesty and righteousness in all aspects of life. They remind believers that integrity not only guides our actions, but also protects and sets an example for others, because when you do what you say, people will believe you, and when you do what you say, it makes it easier for the world to see Christ Jesus shining through you.
Speaker 1:Before we go, I got to make sure I hit you with this next segment. They must be stopped this week. What must be stopped? People who got so much to say, with bad breath, it's got to stop. We got to stop doing this. We got to stop doing this. You don't get to say, hey, all up close and your breath smell like a public restroom, right, a dumpster. You got dumpster breath. Okay, we need to understand. We need to make sure that there's no gingivitis working in our mouths. We got to make sure that we don't have a potty mouth.
Speaker 1:I'm not talking about you cussing. I'm not talking about you using profanity. Um, I, we should be past that, right, but we got to make sure that we're brushing our teeth, making sure we hitting that tongue, all right, and I mean everything that's back there, all that little white, that whiteness. When you wake up, you put your tongue out. Go hit all that back to get all of that back there, because it's going to smell bad, right, and don't drink, don't, don't try to drink coffee, don't try to eat over it, because it's going to come back out, and it's going to come back out worse, all right. So people who you know want to say, hey, with bad breath, listen, you gotta be stopped. You gotta be stopped, and it stops right here. It stops right here.
Speaker 1:So again, I want to thank you all for listening to the soul fuel podcast. This has been another I believe another blessed episode. I want you to leave comment, leave a review for this episode, share it with somebody. Apple Podcasts, spotify, amazon Music, iheartradio, deezer again also on YouTube. All right, so if you're watching on YouTube, also subscribe there to the channel, and I pray that you keep coming back for more and more fuel for your soul. Again, this is this, is this. This concludes another episode of the Soul Fuel podcast, and I'll see you next Monday. Peace.
