Saturday June 14th: The value of speaking simply

“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

Matthew 5:33-37

This gospel passage is part of the many teachings from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In another bible translation, it says, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” I find this amusing when I think about how sometimes we, as Trinbagonians, respond. Our ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ might be in the middle of a story starting “Hmmmm. Well, what happened was…”

Lately, I have been hearing a lot about Minimalism, which is a lifestyle and design philosophy that emphasizes simplicity and the intentional reduction of clutter. It encourages individuals to live with less, focusing on what truly matters and finding contentment with fewer possessions. In other words, live simply and as Jesus advised, speak simply. Do I speak simply to Jesus, or is my ‘yes’ filled with conditionalities, and my ‘no’ filled with excuses?

Lord, help me to do as you asked by letting love be the basis of all my responses and staying true to my word.