If you promise then deliver

Recently a friend disappointed me to no end. This person made a firm commitment and then backed out of it as if his commitment and word were nothing. Apparently when the commitment and promises were made, this person did not think it all of the way through. Several weeks later, he just announced to me that he was not going to do what he promised to do as if his word meant nothing at all. He did not come to me and explain that when he made the commitment that he had not thought it all of the way through and now that he had, he would like for me to let him out of the commitment. Had he done so I would have gladly granted his request and importantly I would have had far more respect for him than I do today. Unfortunately now when he makes a commitment and tells me that he will do something, I will most certainly have a difficult time putting much faith in it and will always question whether “this time” he will live up to his word or back out at the last minute.


I saw my brother do this one time. A friend of his called and asked him to go to a movie with him. He told his buddy that he would go and they arranged a time to meet at the theater. My brother hung up the phone and promptly went to bed. He had no intention of going and yet told his buddy he would meet him there??? This infuriated “me” and I can only imagine how his friend must have felt.

One thing I have tried to teach my children and my employees for that matter is the importance of keeping your word. If you make a firm commitment, then you simply “must” keep it even if you were impulsive and rash at the time you made it and did not think it all of the way through, and yes even if it turns out to be a lousy deal for you and God forbid, costs you some almighty dollars . I have made many a commitment exactly under those circumstances, but I held firm to it even when it cost me money and/or discomfort in order to do it. I always felt that keeping my word was far more important and valuable than what I might gain by backing out of a bad commitment. In short you have far more to lose than you gain when it comes to being recognized as someone who is unreliable and untrustworthy.

I think the key word is “firm”. If it is just in the brainstorming, discussion and analyzing stage and after due consideration a person decides it is not in their best interest and declines participating, then that is entirely a different matter. It is when the firm commitment is made that we must deliver. It sounds like a grey area, but most of the time it is pretty easy to determine whether or not a promise was made. If it was, then it must be kept or the other person must be asked to allow you out of it.

Be known as a person who is honest, a person that keeps his or her word, and a person of integrity. These intangibles will not be found in your savings account, but are far more valuable than cash or material possessions.

Proverbs 16:8
Better is a little with
righteousness,
Than vast revenues without
justice.