21 Ways to Finding Peace and Happiness by Joyce Meyer

keep their word, and second, we had purchased and cooked meat for nine hundred, and since seven hundred showed up, we obviously had lots of meat left over.
    This was inconsiderate on their parts and harmful to them spiritually because they didn’t honor their commitment. This is a widespread problem today in our society. Most people don’t think anything at all about saying they will do a thing and then changing their minds without any good reason, except they did not feel like doing what they said they would do. Their excuse is “I changed my mind.”
    The very least we can do when we have made a commitment and cannot or will not keep it is to make a phone call and say so. Don’t just leave people hanging, not having any idea what happened.
    Those who didn’t attend the event I mentioned thought it didn’t really matter. But it always makes a difference if we don’t do what we say we will.
    Our word is a verbal contract. This verse shows that God considers it to be a vow: “When you vow a vow or make a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God has no pleasure in fools (those who witlessly mock Him). Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:4–5).
    We should take these Scriptures to heart and view them seriously. Don’t make commitments rashly without giving thought to whether or not you are prepared to follow through. I am sure that some of the two hundred people who failed to show up had good reasons for not doing so, but I am equally sure that most of them just plain didn’t see the need to keep their word.
    When we keep our word, even if it is inconvenient for us to do so, it shows good character. We should be concerned about our example because the world is watching those of us who claim to be Christians. They want to see if we are all talk, or if we are living what we are saying we believe.
    I have witnessed people signing up for things and not showing up numerous times during my years of involvement with people in the church. I started out being shocked because I assumed church people could be trusted, but I quickly learned that just because someone goes to church, he is not automatically honest and truthful.
    The ones who don’t keep their word always have an excuse of some kind, but I don’t believe they have peace. We cannot be double minded, unreliable, and unstable and enjoy peace at the same time. We may try to override the feelings of conviction about not keeping our commitment, but its presence nibbles away at the peace God wants us to enjoy.
    One of the ways to maintain peace with God, with yourself, and your fellow man is to do what you say you will do. Once you have made up your mind, don’t change it unless you have no other choice.
    D ON’T B E D OUBLE -M INDED ,
E VEN IN S MALL M ATTERS
    Although I am usually very decisive, I have been known to be double-minded about little things, like what to wear or where to go and eat. God showed me that even being double-minded in these things places pressure on me and robs me of available peace. I like my meals, for example, to be perfect. I think of one restaurant that has the salad I like, but then another comes to mind that has wonderful coffee. Then I remember the pasta dish I love at another one, and before I realize what I am doing, I have spent a half hour or more going back and forth in my mind and in conversation with others about where I want to eat.
    It’s so bad that it has become a family joke. My son says to me early in the morning, “You better start thinking now about where you want to go eat, so you have a decision by tonight when it is time to go.” Or when I tell him to make a reservation at a restaurant for all of us, he might say, “I will check with you in two hours and see if the decision is still the same, so I won’t have to change the reservation three times between now and then.”
    I am doing better, but I still find myself falling into the