Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Allison. Today's scripture offers us a wiser way of being human as we step into the day.

Today's passage is short, but it's incredibly profound, because so many of us live in a kind of internal tension between what we feel, what we think we should say, and what

we actually say to other people. And over time, that gap can become exhausting, especially if you've

learned to be attentive to other people's needs, other people's moods, other people's expectations,

especially if you become skilled at keeping the peace, smoothing things over, or anticipating

what will make someone else feel comfortable. What can happen is that you begin to lose touch with

your own clear center, your own true north. You start speaking from fear instead of truth,

from obligation, instead of conviction, from anxiety, instead of integrity.

And that wears down the soul. So today, Jesus gives us a teaching that is simple on the surface,

but challenging in practice. Today's scripture is Matthew 533 through 37. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,

do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. But I tell you, do not swear an

oath at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne or by the earth, for that is his footstool,

or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.

All you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

At first, this last verse can feel almost too simple.

Just say yes or no.

But when you sit with it for a moment, you realize how difficult that actually is.

Because most of us understand what yes and no means, but we struggle with saying them.

We say yes, when we mean no, we equivocate, when we really

just want to say a clean yes, we soften our no into maybe, we explain, justify, over-clary

and cushion our words, hoping they will be more acceptable. And underneath that is often

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