Letting Others Down

When we have to let others down easy, it is usually because of something that happened they weren’t expecting. Something that happened out of our control and we have to tell them what they were hoping for didn’t come through. It is not easy to let other people down and give bad news to them; however, there are times when we have to tell people things they don’t want to hear.

Then there are times where we let people down because of our actions. When we give our word we are going to be somewhere at a certain time or we are going to do something, and we don’t follow through, we are letting them down. We are chipping away a little more distance between us and them which will hurt a relationship if we are not careful.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 “When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.”

If we say we are going to do something or will be somewhere, we need to follow through. Being a man or woman of our word is very important to our relationship with them, our reputation and our obedience to God. It is better to say nothing and promise nothing than to make a promise and not follow through.

So many times we tend to say we will do something that may not be too important to us, but it is important to the other person. We say things without really knowing if we will be able to do them or not. We are very giving with our words but when it comes to taking action and backing up what we say, we tend to give in to our own wants without thinking about what the other person needs.

Sometimes we really don’t feel like doing what we said we would do. Other times something else comes up we would rather be doing. We may feel like we don’t have the skills to do what we offered to do and decide to back out due to our own lack of faith. That is when we need to get up. We need to step up. We need to go on without a single hesitation and follow through. We need to totally rely on God to help us keep our word.

Giving a promise or telling someone you will do something and not following through is the same as telling God you will do it and not following through. God wants us to be a person of our word. We shouldn’t overpromise nor under deliver. It is our duty to not only do as we say we are going to do but to do it better than what the other person is expecting.

When we go above and beyond what is expected of us, when we allow God to take control of what we are supposed to do for others, great things begin to happen. Others will see God working in our lives. We will be better witnesses for Him. We can begin to build a relationship of trust so we can help that person again in the future and be a good example to them.

Jesus is our example to follow. We are to do as he would do. He chose his words carefully. He made his promises and he followed through. We can do as Jesus does if we have faith in God, if we read His word, if we build a relationship with Him so that we are able to follow through and be an example to others that will make a difference.

John 13:15 “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.