From the Book, Rules For Life: According To Jesus

21. Do Not Swear Oaths

“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” 

Matthew 5:33-37

I think that when it comes down to it, this is a way to keep us honest, as much as anything else. A vow, or an oath is a kind of promise that appeals to something higher than the person making it; something that will keep the person accountable and hold him or her to what they swore to do.

Can you see how this is not a good thing?

If I swear by something greater than myself, or something (someone) very dear to me, what happens when my word fails? If I don’t do the thing that I swore by, the thing that I swore upon becomes as worthless as my pledge. This makes the damage done by not following through even worse than if I had not made the vow. 

And why would we make such a vow anyway? Is our word not trustworthy enough on its own? It should be. 

In all things, we should work to ensure that we are honest and true. If we accomplish this, then there is no need for swearing vows upon something or someone else; it becomes needless, just as Jesus says it is. 

This is why this command is so necessary to our character and the reputation of Jesus our Lord, Whom we serve. Having good character should be more important than just about anything we would swear upon anyway. Only our God in heaven should be more important than we are to each other, and we should never swear on God or each other. So then, what is left to swear upon that is greater than our character? Nothing. So really we should just be tending to our character from the start and not try to appeal to anything else to give it legitimacy; the legitimacy should be evident to all already. 

If you are in the habit of swearing by something, you need to stop doing so. It isn’t helping your character whatsoever anyway. If you are in the habit of swearing something like, “on my mother”, or, “on my father”, or, “God as my witness”. Such swearing is not only ineffective; it is something that the Lord of all creation tells us to not do.

Just make sure that when you say something, it is trustworthy and true. After enough of that, people will trust your word—without all of the theatrics and drama of swearing upon something or someone else.

If you’re from a big city in the New England area, you can do it. Start right away. It’ll be easier than you think. ツ

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Sections in this study:
Introduction
1: Repent
2: Be Born Again
3: Place God First
4: Love and Serve One Another
5: Live By Faith
6: Forgive Others
7: Remain in Jesus
8: Live Righteously Before Men
9: Avoid Bad Influences
10: Stay On The Narrow Path
11: Do Not Return Evil With Evil
12: Give More Than Is Demanded
13: Love Your Enemies
14: Check Your Motives
15: Pray Simply
16: Do Not Worry
17: Store Up Treasures In Heaven
18: Do Not Be Judgmental
19: Guard what is Sacred
20: Care For Those In Distress
21: Do Not Swear Oaths
22: Watch out for false prophets
23: Exercise Spiritual Power
24: Have Childlike Faith
25: Do Not Exalt Yourself
26: Settle Disputes Quickly
27: Settle Disputes Between Believers
28: Do not Oppose Brethren
29: Remember Me
30: Be Merciful
31: Make Disciples
32: Be Ready
33: Obey Jesus’ Commands
Closing Comments