Man Of Your Word

Throughout my career, I’ve held varying roles. One of those roles was working as an account executive for an advertising agency. The responsibility of an account executive is to coordinate all work and communication between the client and the agency. A critical aspect of the job is to ensure the client is always satisfied at all costs. Keeping a client happy is crucial because an unhappy client is an unpaying client.

One day this idea was tested with a longstanding and important client. “Good afternoon Mr. Collazo. This is Carlos from KSR.” Good afternoon.” he said with a slight Spanish accent. “Sir, as you know, we’re going to be running these ads in the trade papers next week, but I need your written approval on those estimates I sent over last week. I’ve tried to contact you about this a few times. Could you please confirm you received them and when you can fax that signed estimate back please?”

After a few seconds of silence, he replied, “Yes, yes. I received them, thank you. Please proceed. You have my approval.” “Great, sir. Could you please sign the estimate and fax it back? The agency needs a record of your approval.” “I’m approving them. I’m a man of my word.” Uneasy by his response, I told him I would check with my supervisor.

After speaking with my supervisor, I called him back. “Sir. Thank you again for your help, but my supervisor asks for your approval in writing. It’s agency policy.” “Mr. Peña, I understand your position, but we do things a little differently around here. My word is my bond, and it carries more weight than me signing this document. It’s the way I was raised and how I’ve conducted business for the past twenty-five years. It should be good enough. If it’s not, we need to re-evaluate our working relationship.”

With that, I went back to the supervisor, and she accepted his terms.

What’s powerful about this story is that Scripture tells us that we, too, must be men of our word. In a world where people break promises easily and commitments rescinded, it should be enough for our “yes to be yes and no to be no.” People should confidently take us at our word. After all, God set an example for us by always keeping his promises.

Daily Directive:

Answer and Journal the Following

Read:

Matthew 5:34-37
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Pray:

Pray for courage to be obedient to what God calls you to do.

Meditate / Make It Real:

Contemplate and meditate on or memorize the passage. What is God saying to you? Then, determine what you will do with what you’ve learned.

Share / Show:

Share and show what you’ve learned with someone else.