Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
Freedom through commitment—can that actually be true? We find freedom by making commitments. Think about it: You found freedom from the bondage of sin and the prospect of hell by making a commitment to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. You found freedom to prepare yourself for the future by committing yourself to get an education. You found freedom to have an income and support yourself when you made a commitment to take a job. Freedom truly comes through commitment.
Yet many people find it very difficult to make any kind of a commitment. Why is it so hard? One reason is fear of failure. Someone has said, “Fear of failure and humiliation go a long way in limiting how much someone is willing to risk committing to a course of action.” It’s true that commitment brings with it the possibility of failing, but lack of commitment means you never have a chance to succeed! Of course there will be failures, but the road to success is always lined with some failures. Like all fears, this fear is a tool of the enemy, which he uses very effectively to cripple us and keep us from the good things God wants to do for us and through us.
Another reason some find it hard to make commitments is the fear of boredom. We’ve been conditioned to being entertained a lot in our technological society, so the idea that we might have to endure something which is not as much fun or as exciting as something else can paralyze us and prevent our involvement in things that really could be meaningful. And then there’s the reality that we refuse to be committed because we’re lazy and we just don’t want to put out the effort!
I think one of the most common reasons people refuse to be committed is we’ve cluttered our lives with so much stuff that we just “don’t have time” to do things that are perhaps much more important. But it’s important to stop and ask yourself why you are so busy that you can’t take on other commitments. Is it because you allowed yourself to be pushed into things that really weren’t what God wanted you to do? Maybe we need to de-commit to some things that really aren’t so important.
Is commitment really that necessary, you may ask? Isn’t there something else, something less scary? No, there is no way to be what God intended you to be and do what God intended you to do except by personally committing yourself to something or someone. Sitting on the fence, waiting for something better to come along, and fearing the responsibilities of commitment will not bring you contentment or fulfillment.