Commitment:

Commitment is defined as the act of binding yourself to a course of

action.
Commitment, a word that is so simple yet so difficult. Commitment is at
root a personal decision, whether at work or at home.
It rests on three main ideas:
 giving the best of one-self,
 giving more than is required
 giving with no alternative options.
Matthew 22:37-39. Triangle – closer to God then closer to each other.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.”
Luke 14:25-,27 – God must be first
“And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto
them, 26 If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross,
and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 – You are not yours
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
[which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s.”
Philippians 1:21 – Motive to live in all circumstances
Php 4:12, 13 “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Ef. 5: 15-32 “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not
unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is]. 18 And be not
drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for
all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 ¶ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22 Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the
husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church:
and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject
unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it
should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man
ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the
Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of
his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a
great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as
himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband.”
Applying these principles to our Christian lives and especially to our
marriages will not make everything easy. We are still sinners and if you
are saved then you are a sinner saved by grace.
I never realized that my wife felt the way she does until we passed our 50 th
wedding anniversary and my 73 birthday. She wrote: “Good Morning!
Today is Pastor Bill's special day! I want to congratulate the most
important man of God in my life! Happy Birthday! Husband, Friend,
Father, Pastor Bill! God continue to bless your life in a very special way!”
We have laughed, loved, played, worked, served, traveled, fought, cried,
worried, feared together for over 50 years and will continue to do so until
the Lord calls us home.
Commitment is not an option, but a choice:
 giving the best of one-self,
 giving more than is required
 giving with no alternative options.
Let’s pray!