2. Keeping Promises

World Scripture

When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth.
Numbers 30.2

Fulfill the covenant of God once you have pledged it, and do not break any oaths once they have been sworn to. You have set up God as a Guarantee for yourselves; God knows everything you are doing. Do not be like a woman who unravels her yarn after its strands are firmly spun. Nor take your oaths in order to snatch at advantages over one another, to make one party more numerous than the other. For God will test you by this.
Qur’an 16.91-92

When man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God,” or “Have you prayed and performed ritual acts,” but “Have you dealt honorably, faithfully in all your dealings with your fellowman?”
Talmud, Shabbat 31a (Judaism)

Tzu-chang asked about getting on with people. The Master said, “Be loyal and true to your every word, serious and careful in all you do, and you will get on well enough even though you find yourself among barbarians. But if you are disloyal and untrustworthy in your speech, frivolous and careless in your acts, even though you are among your own neighbors, how can you hope to get on well?”
Analects 15.5 (Confucianism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Once you have promised to give something to a friend, you should fulfill it without fail. Breaking a promise will stain your character.
(Way of God’s Will 2.2)

Making excuses [for not fulfilling one’s word] is not the way to have many virtuous friends, to be positively recognized by one’s superiors, or to be trusted by one’s subordinates. People who make excuses are generally losers. You should not make excuses whenever something unexpected happens. I never make excuses, even in the face of death. If confronted with the facts of the matter, I might wince with the answers, but I will never make excuses… Only honest people will survive and prevail over circumstances. We need to become honest believers more than anything else.
(45:269, July 4, 1971)

A person of character fulfills his promises. If you say, “You forced me to make that promise, and therefore I do not have to keep it,” then you are not a person of character. In the law, a contract is a promise made and agreed to in public. All the parties to the contract must keep their promises. After signing a contract, a person who does not fulfill his promise is punished by public regulations; hence keeping it is the responsibility of any law-abiding person.
(31:13, April 8, 1970)

You should become a person who can be entrusted with a precious treasure.
(Way of God’s Will 2.2)