in divorces and so many American people jumping from job to job. Even some ministries have a hard time finding volunteers who are willing to stay committed for long lengths of time.
So what is a commitment? For the purpose of this post and the in this posts context commitment will be defined as:
Commitment: Pledging or promising involvement in an organization or relationship for a specified length of time or eternity.
Whether having to do with relationships or commitment to an organization we often do not think enough. For example, I participated on a forum in the creation of a website called teensforsave.com (Student Advocates for Vindicating Education). A leadership position for this group was offered to me and I accepted it without thinking it through much. Now I have not been able to spend a considerable amount of time working on any of our projects for months. Because I did not think enough before I made my commitment I have now abandoned them. When I made the spur of the moment decision I was sure I would have time to commit to this and that it was something that I wanted to be part of, but in truth God has other things for me to be spending my time on. I was not able to fully commit to it.
In Deuteronomy when talking about commitment it gives us an idea of how fully we should commit ourselves to things, if it is truly Gods desire for us to commit to them. It says to commit yourself wholeheartedly (Deut. 6:6), completely (Deut. 11:18, and without reservation (Deut. 26:16).
But this is so far from how my commitments look. I decide to do something and partly participate. Isn’t this what all of our commitments look like? Do you wholeheartedly commit to things? Do you think it through before committing yourself? Do you ONLY commit to the things God tells you to commit to? Do you go to God in prayer before making a commitment… any commitment? No wonder we are not able to carry through with what we commit to. So many of our commitments are not things we want to spend our time on and not things God wants us spending our time on.
Maybe marriages would not fall apart if every couple came before God and made the commitment ONLY with God’s affirmation. Maybe employees would not be hopping from job to job if they were to commit to their job wholeheartedly. Lets commit ourselves to a few specific things and stay headed in God’s direction, following God’s directions. Lets keep ourselves so committed to God that we push aside the distractions Satan tries to confuse us with.
I got the opportunity to talk to a customer at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit for a long time. This man, a friendly customer who came at least once a week, would always complain about the amount he had to work and how he worked so much he didn’t get to spend much time with his family. He seemed to love his family, but I realized he wasn’t as committed to them as he sounded. He would come by the restaurant as he was headed home for work, he never came in to eat with his family. He would spend normally at least 45 min. eating and reading a magazine, often he was there for two hours. If he truly was committed to his family, if he wanted to see them wouldn’t he of headed home as soon as possible?
This situation is a great example of how we often commit to things with our mouth, he said he wanted to spend time with his family. But when it comes down to it our hearts are not in it, he stayed in the restaurant for hours, instead of spending that time with his family. He spoke what he knew was best to be committed to, but he didn’t actually commit.
If you are going to commit to something, desire it in your heart, proclaim it with your mouth, and then act it out. DESIRE, PROCLAIM, AND ACT. If either of these are missing you will quickly slip away from that commitment.
Stay Committed,
Brandon Maddux
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