Commitment: do you care about the right things?
Are your priorities the same as God's?
Being committed to something is hard. As Christians we want to be people who follow through on what we say we will do.
In a nutshell, to be committed means to follow through on our promises and stay the course through every peak and valley of our responsibilities in life. Whether it’s family, school, work, sports teams, church, friends, faith or God we have a lot of commitments. It is not easy to commit to anything, especially when we, as modern young people, have to commit to so much.
It’s clear that we have a lot of commitments. Some of us probably have even more then what’s mentioned above. But what are the most important commitments we have? What commitments should we pay the most attention to?
Learning from the apostle Paul
The apostle Paul was a man who wrestled with the issue of commitment. He found that his newfound faith challenged what he was employed to do and what he thought was most important.
Paul was a pharisee charged with the responsibility of rounding up Christians and punishing them for their faith. Paul was hard and unwavering in his commitment to eradicating Christians.
However, Jesus appeared to him and completely transformed his perspective and the course of his life. You can read the story for yourself in Acts chapter 9 and as you do, notice how Paul’s perspective changed his commitment.
Essentially, Paul was committed to something he thought was right in the eyes of man and God, but…he was wrong.
This story of Paul on the road to Damascus teaches us that God can change our perspective and our commitments. Paul had a moment where we was forced to consider his perspective, priorities and commitments.
We may not have a moment where Jesus speaks to us from heavens. But, we need to consider: what are the most important commitments we have?
1 Kings 8:61 “And may your hearts be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
Jesus showed us the perfect example of being committed to God by dying for us on the cross. We can follow his example by reading about his life and applying his teaching to our lives.
Getting closer to God
Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If we want to get closer to God, we need to listen to his instruction. If we don’t love God, we won’t be able to love others. If we don’t love others it’ll be pretty hard to love God.
When I think about loving my neighbour as myself, I think of the story of the good Samaritan. I imagine that I could somehow replicate the deeds of the parables main character. In reality, we the opportunity to help a bleeding Israelite on the road doesn’t come along too often.
So, we can love our neighbour through small gestures.
Love your neighbour as yourself
For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 implores us to encourage one another and build one another up.
Moreover, 1 Peter 3:8-9 teaches us to love one another by being sympathetic and forgiving.
Meanwhile, Galatians 6:2 encourages us to fulfil Jesus’ law by listening to each other and helping one another through tough times.
Ask yourself, how you can be more loving and kind to those you meet today.
Why not pray about your commitments and their effect on your life and relationship with God?
As you pray, take time to reflect and ask yourself:
• Which of my commitments helps me serve God and others?
• Is this commitment getting in the way of me serving God?
• Is this commitment stopping me from serving others?
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