Is commitment enough?

Consider with me the promises many of us make. We promise our employers to come to work, to be on time and put our best foot forward, as the saying goes.

Some of us have promised to enter into a marriage relationship. We’ve promised to stay faithful to our spouse, for better or worse.

Parents have promised to protect and provide for their children.

We promise to tell the truth in a court of law.

We promise not to share a deep secret.

And the list goes on.

These are promises or what can be called commitments.

Commitment is defined as “To pledge or promise.”

It’s something we determine to do; an action we promise to make.

Many of us have made similar commitments in our relationship with the Lord.

We’ve promised to serve him. We’ve promised to obey his teachings and the truths in his word. Many of us have committed to love him.

We’ve promised to pray.

But is commitment to the Lord enough?

Think about it; we commit to things we’re reasonably sure we can manage. We think fulfilling a particular promise is within our power. If we thought we were incapable of meeting our commitment we most likely would not step into this promise.

But how many times do we fail in our commitments we’ve made to God?

Our desires may be very well indented but we’ve often failed to keep the commitments we’ve made.

A familiar pattern with many Christians is; promises made to God, promises broken, promises made to God again…

This certainly includes our prayer lives. How many of us have promised to pray again and again and again only to continually fail?

Consider the difference between commitment and surrender

To surrender is “To yield to the possession or power of another, to give up.”

Commitment involves a promise to give something to someone.

Surrender, on the other hand, is giving up and giving in. It’s allowing a person to completely control what you do and what they do with you.

During a battle, the losing country will often surrender to the winning one. They admit their defeat. They yield to the victor.

They give up control.

This is the key.

Too many of us have committed our lives to Christ when we should have surrendered to him.

We may want to serve and follow him but who is really in control?

God has intentions to work amazing ways in your life. Ephesians 3:20 says “above and beyond anything you could ever ask or imagine.”

He has people he wants you to touch, lives he wants us to impact.

He wants to use you in prayer to make a difference, to experience his presence.

He does not want you to live a defeated life but, instead, a victorious, powerful and fulfilling one.

But this is only possible when you surrender to him.

The truth is, our commitments to God can actually hinder the work he wants do.

Why? Because in our attempts to do this work, we are in control.

God doesn’t want us to commit to work for him. What he wants is for us to surrender to him so he can work through us.

God doesn’t want us to commit to work for him. What he wants is for us to surrender to him so he can work through us. Click To Tweet

Surrender to God and trust him to work the impossible.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
~ 2 Cor. 12:9-11