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Divine Imperatives September 14 Devotional

by David Joynt on September 14, 2023


MATTHEW 5:37a  | 37a Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’...

 

For Jesus, simple speech that relied on affirmation and denial was best. “Yes” and “no” are powerful words when spoken truly. Some of us say “yes” too easily, when confronted with a demand or request or an appeal for agreement in a discussion. We are driven to please people and to make people happy, so we agree even when we are not sure we can meet the demand, honor the request, or support fully the position. This is a subtle form of dishonesty! Better to defer our “yes” until we are certain it is not actually a “no.”

 

Are you a person that wants to please others?

 

 

Gracious God,

Let me agree judiciously and not just to keep folks happy. When I should delay judgement or withhold agreement, help me to do so.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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