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When was the last time you told someone you would do something, but then did not do it? Or you did it so poorly that everyone would have been better off if you had said "No" to begin with?

If you make a habit of breaking your promises, however, you will soon develop a reputation as an unreliable person. If you do not care what people think of you, then maybe there is no reason to worry about it. Nevertheless, if you are a Christian, you have another problem. In Matthew 5:37, Jesus tells us, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' When we say "Yes," but we are consistently unreliable, we do more than damage our own reputation--we damage God's reputation in the eyes of those who see Him through us. Not only do we discourage other Christians, but we also discourage unbelievers from even considering the claims of Christ.

I have never met anyone who really wanted to be known as unreliable. But I have known many people who have too often said "Yes" when they should have said "No." Or they have said "Yes," but then did not perform as they promised due to poor organization.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not talking about the person who just occasionally does not live up to commitments. We have all experienced that from time to time. No, I am talking about the person who acquires a reputation for not being reliable.

Getting Motivated

There are several reasons people become known as unreliable. Sometimes just recognizing the problem and simply making a conscious effort to do what you say you will do will change your reputation. Or perhaps you need to improve poor personal organization or develop your ability to say "No" to ensure that you can keep your commitments.

If you are not personally well organized, you may want to become better organized if you can see it in terms of what God wants you to do or be or become. Ask God to show you His desire for you in terms of personal organization.
If your struggle is not so much whether God wants you to be personally better organized, but rather how to get there, then be sure you have enough regular daily quiet time to enable Him to tell you how.

And if your struggle involves knowing when or how to say "No," that is what you should address in your time with God. The bottom line is that unless, and until, you are willing and able to spend enough time with God regularly, you probably will not make significant progress in becoming more reliable. And if you do, you will.

Listening and Planning

To begin seeking God's guidance, if you have no time regularly committed, start with 15 minutes a day. If you already have established the habit, then set a goal of one hour with the Lord, but work up to that gradually. And if you already spend an hour, concentrate on improving the quality of your time with Him.

To become reliable, you also need a regular time for personal planning and daily organization. Again, if you do not have any time set aside for planning, you might want to begin with 10 or 15 minutes. Even that will seem like a long time until you learn to fill it wisely. Once you establish the habit of having that time available, you may very well find ways to use even more.

In the beginning, try scheduling your planning time in the morning before the day catches up with you (maybe right after your quiet time) or at the end of the day. After you have established a routine, you can then discover the best time for you on an ongoing basis.

During this planning time, you need to do several things in order to improve your ability to be reliable. First, make a list of all the commitments you have made to others, including God. Remember your spouse, your kids, your boss, your coworkers, your friends, your pastor, and everyone you talked to the day before. Perhaps you could carry a 3 x 5 card and write down any commitments you make.
Next, establish a date by which you will fulfill every commitment you have made. Some short-term commitments you can complete immediately. Long-term projects you may need to break into steps, giving each step its own deadline.
Finally, you need to report to each person to whom you made a commitment. Even if you have not done what you promised, at least report your progress or lack thereof.

Establishing Routines

When you set aside planning time on a regular daily basis, you can review your ongoing commitments, and you can add any new ones you made the prior day. You can begin to measure your progress. You can see which ones are slipping. You can give yourself time to recover before it is too late. And if all else fails, you can at least report to the person you committed to that you have not lived up to the commitment.

Too often, when we see ourselves slipping behind schedule, we hunker down and sentence ourselves to feeling guilty. Time passes, and so does the pain associated with a broken commitment--until we see the other person, or remember. Then the guilt just washes over us again and again.

If you are living with the guilt of broken commitments in the past, put them to rest. Call the people involved and ask for their forgiveness. Then accept that forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move on. If you are struggling with a commitment that you must break, take the initiative. Contact the other person and receive a release from the commitment, or make a new one that you can keep.
Once quiet time and planning time have become routine parts of your day, you are ready to establish some other routines. Routines are the key to personal organization, and personal organization is the key to becoming consistently reliable. You should have a routine time to go to bed and a routine time to get up. You should have a routine time to break for lunch and to leave the office. If you have a family, you should have a routine dinner time and a routine time to spend with family members.

As you establish more and more routines in your life, you will find that you are becoming more and more reliable. You will begin to think in terms of when you will do the things you are committing to. Just as importantly, you will begin to realize what you do not have time for. You will begin to say "No" and not feel guilty. You will realize before saying "Yes" that if you do, you run the risk of being unreliable.
Contrary to what some people might think, routines do not make life boring. If they do, then change them. But do not resist having routines because of the threat of boredom or lack of freedom. Having the right routines produces maximum freedom. When you know the important things are going to get done in routine fashion, you can begin to enjoy saying "Yes" to other things. You no longer have to worry about procrastination or plain old forgetfulness.

Breaking the Tardiness Habit

It is easy to overlook punctuality as a problem area. But have you ever heard anyone rush into a meeting or appointment late and say, "Boy, am I glad I am late"? Of course not. We instinctively know that tardiness is bad. In school, many of us were graded on tardiness.

But have you ever stopped to think about why habitual tardiness is bad? It's because habitual tardiness indicates lack of respect for the other person.
If you are guilty of habitual tardiness, try looking at it as being consistently unreliable. If people expect you to be late, if they plan for you to be late, your reputation is sullied. In effect, you are saying that you consider yourself more important than those around you--and they know you think that! If you want to overcome habitual tardiness, just decide to and plan to be early wherever you go. Determine in advance when you should leave in order to be early. And then exercise the discipline to leave at that time.

If you need some help--some accountability--then you might impose a fine on yourself for every minute you are late. Or decide in advance to give up something you want whenever you are late.

Being reliable is important--to you and to God. So make it a priority. If you want to become known as a reliable person, true to the commitments you make, decide to become better organized. Allow time for listening to God and for personal planning. Establish routines and commit yourself to breaking the tardiness habit. Follow these simple measures, and you will succeed.
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