In the Broadway play My Fair Lady: Eliza Doolittle is courted by Freddy who writes her daily love letters. But Eliza's response is only frustration: “Words! Words! I'm so sick of words! Don't talk of stars burning above! If you're in love, show me! Don't talk of love lasting through time. Make no undying vow. If you love me, show me now!”
If you’re like me, you resonate with Eliza’s “If you love me, show me now.” We admire people who keep their word. When we keep our word, we may mean many things but we will mean at least the following:
(1) We will do what we say we will do. We show we are trustworthy and dependable.
Whether in business or in our personal lives, we want to be with people who do what they say. I don’t remember my parents making empty promises to me or to my brother and sister. I do remember they kept their word to me when they said I would be getting a bicycle for my birthday – not a three-wheeler but my first two-wheeler. That was a promise kept that I will never forget! Getting that bike meant I could trust my parents to keep their word if they ever said they were going to do something.
(2) When we keep our word, we are showing respect and even love toward the other person. We are showing we value the integrity of our relationships.
A student was looking for summer employment. She had two job possibilities. One she wanted very much and the other she really didn't want but would take as a second choice.
As you can guess, the second-choice job was offered first. She wanted to hold out for her first choice but she didn't know if it would be offered to her or to someone else. So she accepted her second-choice. A few days later, as you also could expect, the job she had hoped for was offered to her. She wanted to quit the job she had already accepted and take the job she really wanted. So she went to her father.
“Dad, I have a problem.” And she told him the situation.
He looked her straight in the eye: “Did you take the first job offered to you?” “Yes.”
“Did you promise you would work there this summer?” “Yes.”
Her father then said, “Why are we having this conversation?”
All of us want to associate with people who do what they say they will do, who are trustworthy and dependable, and who value our relationship with them.
At the intersection of life and faith, where both pain and joy live, God is there with love for us. God is trustworthy, dependable and values the relationships we have with family and friends and with us. God is the essence of integrity and love.
What do you think? I would value a good conversation with you.
Chris
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