Carless Commitments That Consistently Drain You Series

So, what is it that you and I are to do? If we want to avoid careless commitments that consistently drain us, what steps do we take? Let me suggest four.

First, believe that Christ is worthy of your undivided love, that he deserves your full commitment. Because he does. Jesus himself tells us, ‘‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). Why would you give your allegiance to something that is bent on destroying you? Why would you not give it to Christ, who has come to give you life?

My second suggestion is the mirror of the first. If you believe that Christ is worthy of your full commitment, refuse any longer to think that the world is. Does it deserve your undivided love? Hardly! In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7:31, Paul says quite bluntly, ‘...This world in its present form is passing away.’ It won’t last! Is that the star you want to hitch your wagon to?

Third: Consider how Eugene Peterson paraphrases verse 16 in The Message. That’s the verse about the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Peterson puts it this way. He says: Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father.’

So, what if you did this? What if you stopped insisting on always getting your own way? What if you determined, instead of ‘wanting everything for yourself,’ to share what you have with others. What if you made it a pattern to show generosity and hospitality? And what if you checked your pride in the things you have and the things you have done, focused less on yourself and more on others? That’s the way of our Lord, who ‘did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life...’ (Mark 10:45).

And, finally, this is my fourth suggestion: Become a person with an undivided heart. Be that man or that woman with a wholehearted commitment to God.

Careless commitments that constantly drain you: that’s what love for the world is made of. We’re just careless. We think we can love God and at the same time serve those purposes in this world that oppose him. It doesn’t make sense when you think about it, but isn’t that the problem? We don’t always stop to think. We are careless about spiritual things. The world seduces us with its glitz and glitter, but it never tells us what it leaves in its wake. At best, disappointment; at worst, destruction.

What will you be committed to? How about love for the Father? You know where that leads. It’s a narrow path; I don’t deny that. But it will take you home. It will give you life. And it will last forever.