Commitment
“A Term That Has Seemingly Become Obsolete”
What is commitment?
An engagement or pledge to do something, An unreserved devotion, bound to stand fast or hold in place.
We live in a self-serving, throwaway, live-for-the-moment, do-what-feels-good, society.
Typically, the only commitments made these days are those that are personally beneficial.
Commitments that are made are typically to worldly things. Things outside of God’s economy.
A commitment is more than a mere contribution.
1Thes 3:8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
Paul writing to the church describing the fulfillment of his life in their commitment to the faith.
We also really begin to live, when we live a life that is committed.
Are You Committed To The Essential Things?
Are you committed to building a relationship with Jesus?
Phil 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
1 Pet 2:7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,"
1 Cor 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Are you committed to overcoming sin?
To serve God you must be committed to overcoming sin.
To overcome sin you must absolutely want it out of your life.
Psa 37:1-5
Prov 25:28 Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
Rom 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Ps 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
Prov 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.
Are you committed to your marriage?
A covenant is the highest form of commitment.
1 Pet 3:1-7
Heb 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Prov 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD.
In Malachi dealing treacherously with your spouse was one of the things that ticked off God.
A lack of commitment to our marriage will break down everything else in our spiritual walk.
Are you committed to your children?
A high-level of commitment is required to raise godly children.
Due 6:4-7
Eph 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
This is the kind of commitment that impresses God.
Are you committed to your ministry?
To serve God you must be committed to His will for your life.
If you want to fulfill your purpose, you must be committed to it.
2 Tim 4:5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
When we are committed to our ministry, miracles begin to operate in our lives.
I am reminded of a story about a group of ministers who were considering bringing Dwight L. Moody to town to preach. Rev. Moody’s great successes as well as the profound miracles that followed his meetings were discussed.
One minister who was unimpressed with the report commented, “Does Dwight L. Moody have a monopoly on the Holy Ghost?”
Another quietly answered, “No, but the Holy Ghost seems to have a monopoly on Dwight L. Moody.”
Commitment is more than contribution. - Take the matter of bacon and eggs. The chicken makes a contribution, but the pig, now he makes a commitment.
God is looking for people he can trust, people that are committed.
