Commitment

Volume 10 Issue 4

Greeting in His Name,

This article was intended for April. I've had it held in my to publish folder until now. It is not a hot of the press issue but it is a oldie but a goody. So with that being said, enjoi, today's blog entitled Commitment. Hope you find some inspiration, conviction, and queries.

shalom and love,

heidi

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Hey! Do you remember the old song Fully Committed? This song would surely take you into God’s presence. Remember the chorus? Let’s hum it, “I give my life….ful..ly committed to you”... Man! Can you here it? How awe inspiring this song is. But my mind goes quickly to another song, When the Music Stops! How many of us when we get beyond church, singing, dancing, shouting, etc., have issues with really committing our life to God. And what I mean by “life” is committing your everything to God. I define commitment to be a strong agreement. Nothing is suppose to break it. It’s like Paul said to the Romans, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's a strong agreement.

But looking into this day and age most people don’t commit to anything and if they do it is short term because it is predicated on what and how much they want to give. Lord, have mercy! 2 Timothy 3:1-5 in the Message Bible says, don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people. Allergic to God….animals...My, my. If the world looks into the church and sees this type of behavior displayed what does that do to our witness? Do we reflect this image? The Word tells us that when we give our lives to Christ we become new creatures. We let go of the animalistic behavior and should take on a more angelic approach. But it’s sad to say that most Christians don’t. Why? My answer is simple, we are not committed to the Word. The more Word you put in, the more of that old man will go out. It’s like a glass of colored water, the color water representing your old nature. Now take another glass of clean clear water, which is the word. Ephesians 5:26 KJV That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. As you pour the clean clear water into the colored water the colored water begins to dilute until nearly clear. As with the Word, the more you pour it in, the more of you gets diluted and you can began to show the image of your Father, a Father who is so committed to you. And He wants others to experience that commitment through us.

I took a pole of women and men, young and old, single and married. I asked them what came to mind when they heard the word ‘commitment’. Most of the responses had a two or three fold view of the word:

Monifa said, “… when I think of a commitment I think of loyalty, trust and a given consent from the individual that they have felt deep in their heart … to be committed to a task is to give of your self and prepare for what is a task… With God to be committed to Him is to live His word and bring people to Him.”

From a male perspective I asked Chris who said, “Well honestly it’s sad to say that when a man hears commitment he automatically thinks of what he would be missing out on if he commits to one women but as he matures he realizes that its not about what you will be missing but what you will gain.” Go head Chris!

One of my favorites was Jesimine’s definition, “the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action”.

Marion said, “… in the relationship sense, commitment for most people must be cultivated. This means that you must make your relationship with each other number one. You must also set limits on intrusions...Hello! And lastly you must build rituals of connection...ahhhhhh.” Deep, right?

Shelia shared, “… relationships, jobs, and especially your walk with God, has to be prioritized. How do you give all these different areas top priority? Well I'm glad you asked. The key word is PRIORITY. We know God is first. Relationship is next. Keep everything in its place of priority and you'll be alright.” I agree, TOP PRIORITY!

Other responses: Roderick said, “ in a few words...durability...no conditions...acceptance of the ability to be human...growth...submission (a woman respects a man's authority but a man's authority is subject to his woman's feelings)...NEVER QUIT!!!” Do we have any more Roderick's out there? Patrick said, “obligated, tied down, promise keeper, honoring” and lastly, Reggie summed it up in one word, “RUN!”

As you can see most people thought about male/female relationships, but commitment is a big word and it can take on many meanings depending on the aspect in which you are looking. It’s amazing though, that’s all God wants with us is a relationship. God’s reason for sending His Son to suffer and die was to restore relationships. What if we made that kind of sacrifice? Are you willing to let some of your ways and desires go to have another in close communion with you.? God did. He let Christ go so that we could be close to Him. That letting go could bring a stronger commitment to a spouse, a closer bond to a friend, success to a child, a tighter relationship with a family member, or a more respectful place with a co-worker. Let’s not forget about that person you think you could never be close to. With God all things are possible. Every time you face areas that seem hard to commit to ask yourself how committing to that person or thing would affect God, you and that person. If you give every answer a three star then you need to consider committing to it. Commitment is deeper than a male/female relationship. It’s as Jesimine said, “a course of action”.

LIFE QUOTE

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."

-Charles Kingsley

Let Us Laugh!

In the foyer of a church, a young boy was looking at a plaque with the names of men and women who had died in various wars. He asked the pastor, “Who are these people?” The pastor said, “Those are members from our church who died in service.” The boy asked, “The early service or the second service?” —Submitted by James Powers"

(https://www.rd.com/jokes/religion/)

Hope to see you Next Month....

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