Carnally, Halfheartedly, And Faithfully Committed!!

[Ps. 37:5] Commit thy way unto the LORD: trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

In this day and age there is a word in the English language that seems to have lost its definition and meaning to most people. We know the word, we read the word, we understand the meaning of the word, however we often fail to live this word. We place our hopes, desires, and expectations on this word. We have others to believe in this word and they too place their hopes, desires, and expectations on us because we use this word. However we often damage, hurt love ones and destroy lives because we fail to fulfill the definition of this word.

What is this word? It is a word that means: an agreement or pledge to do something in the future or to continue something until completion. This word indicates something pledged. It is a word that alludes to the state or an instance of being obligated to a cause, task or purpose. This word is the English Anglo Saxon word Commitment.

We prefer to think of commitment as something that doesn’t require any sacrifice. No sacrifice really’ means no commitment, and in a world where there’s always something bigger, brighter and newer round the next corner, most people find it less and less beneficial to commit. To make things harder we often perceive some things to be better to or for us than they actually might be ’and so we are, confused as to what to commit to. Nowadays it’s a big deal to make an honest commitment because we don’t like being obligated. Commitment is at the very heart of what it is to be a real man or a real woman. Commitment is to agree or pledge to do something in the future or to continue something until completion, see something through, regardless of the cost - not halfway -but all the way through.

Life is full of necessary and required commitments. It is virtually impossible to live life and not commit to something. Throughout this life we live, we commit to:

Jobs, Banks, Creditors, Relationships, Marriages, Dreams, Our Pastor, Our Church, and Jesus Christ.

But all too often we fail to live up to our commitments. So what if we break a commitment? We’ve all done it and sometimes we have even felt bad about it. We’ve all made wrong turns and bad decisions in making commitments. I mean, it looked and sound good when we heard it. We truly though that this was what we wanted or the right thing at that time and place and we felt that we could truly do and was willing to do what was required. However, when things got uncomfortable or the way got hard, or things didn’t go as we thought they would, we began to have second thoughts about what we had committed ourselves to doing, and thus began the breaching of our committed contract. Our given word. At that time we began to search for reasons to justify why we should not be obligated to honor or hold to the commitment we made. As Christians we at that time fail to follow the example of Jesus Christ, who was the best example of true commitment - a real man who gave up everything for love till the end. A man who committed his life from the beginning so that we would not be bound to eternal damnation. Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

What if Jesus would have reneged or breached on his word, on his commitment to mankind?

Throughout this life as you wax old, you will find that there are different levels or types of Commitments that you will make and encounter from others. As I studied this word commitment in the text of God I encountered a few examples of Commitments made by the Saints of Old.

1. Carnally Commitment: to commit to the work of God without spiritual understanding to bring about a personal desire without relaying or waiting on God to make it happen.

There was Peter in Lk.22: 33-37 who displayed Carnal Commitment

Peter was committed to Jesus in the establishment of an earthly kingdom. That was what he wanted, and he was willing to follow Jesus to the end-even to the point of dying in combat against the Romans to have this earthly kingdom, However, when he saw Jesus arrested and tried and seemed to be powerless, Peter’s personal ambition was crushed. Therefore, his giving in to temptation to strike out and cut off the ear of a solider was a natural worldly reaction. The way the world would do things to achieve what they wanted. Peter resulted to his might and his ability to bring forth the kingdom. Peter’s commitment was true, but carnal because his purpose and motive for committing himself was wrong.