Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
October 27, 2002 - W0243

When everything is stripped from your life, do you still uphold your commitments? Or are they the first thing to go?

Life is filled with stressful circumstances that can stump the best of us, deter us from our goals, and dampen our hopes. On the other hand, trials can also forge your faith, deepen commitments and, ultimately, determine our destiny. It comes down to a simple question: How do I do in the area of personal commitments?

Personal commitments include those youíve made to your family, spouse, schooling, ministry or career, health, finances and even to your community or country. Which commitments are you actively upholding in your life? Which ones need tending to? Which ones have you forgotten?

Q1: What are your personal commitments for this season of your life? What is your level of involvement in each of theseóhigh, moderate, low or none? Are there things you feel you need to prune or improve? How so?

Thereís a man in the Bible whose life story is one of outstanding commitment. He clung to his commitments despite every worse case scenario you could imagineóbeatings, imprisonment, shipwreck, abandonment, accusations and even being left for dead. This man had commitment! This man was the Apostle Paul.

When everything else was gone, Paul maintained his commitment. He had a commitment to God and paid for it with his life. Literally. Paul died for the cause of Christ, but that was the extent he knew he had to go to. ìBut my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord JesusÖ telling others the Good Newsî (Acts 20:24). What a commitment!

But Paul wasnít always so committed to Christ. In fact, he began as a leading religious zealot, a Pharisee, who imprisoned, persecuted and even killed Christians. In fact, he was on a headhunting mission to a neighboring country to track some Christians down when Jesus caught up with him on the road to Damascus, and changed his life forever.

Paul was such a witness for Christ that he was thrown in prison. Although he was under heavily secured arrest (he was chained to a guard during his imprisonment), Paul remained positive. He was even able to convert many of the guards to the life of Christ because they were chained to him! While imprisoned, Paul also wrote several Bible books: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. What seemed negative, God turned into a positive. And Heís able to do the same in our lives when the level of our commitment to Christ is strong.

Shortly after, Paul was released but then was badly beaten again and thrown back into jail. All because of his staunch commitment to Christ. There he wrote 2 Timothy, his last letter and final words to the world, in which he stated, ìI have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousnessÖî (2 Tm. 4:7,8). Soon after, Paul was put to death for his faith.

All Paul had left was his commitment to Christ. He had lost everything: his position and prestige as a leading Pharisee, his possessions, family, relationships, even his cloak and parchment. He was stripped to nothing in a cold jail cell, facing the coming winter months alone. In the midst of nothing, Paul had one thing left: his relationship with God.

And it was because Paul clung to his faith, that God was able to use him to write nearly half the New Testament. Itís almost as if God was looking for someone who had nothing but commitment and then used him in a tremendous way. Thatís what God can do through a person with a strong personal commitment to Christ. Thatís what He can do through you and I!

Often, when things arenít going well, the very first thing we get rid of is our commitment. When weíre compromised and/or challenged, out goes our commitment. Like the song goes, ìIf you canít be with the one you love, then just love the one youíre with.î What a lack of commitment! But in the end, itís our commitments that will reflect the quality of life we chose to live.

?        YOU WILL BE DEFINED BY YOUR COMMITMENTS.

Q2: What are some of your past commitments that define who you are today? These might include your marriage, schooling, children, ministry work and saying ìYesî to Jesus. What defines you?

Knowing the importance of our commitments, letís take a deeper look at exactly what they are. Theyíre not as simple as we may think (and maybe youíre catching a glimpse of that!). There are actually three levels of commitment that take place with every commitment you makeÖ

THREE LEVELS OF COMMITMENT:

1.      We begin with future commitments.

These are commitments that are set in the future; things you will do sooner or later, but not right now. Weíll say things like, ìI will love you until death do us part,î or ìWhatever you say God, I will do.î These types of commitments are easy to make because they are still in the future. Theyíre very idealistic and havenít been tested yet by real life commitment. This is the level that most of us live at in the level of our commitments.

Q3: What are some of your future commitments? How do you plan to follow-up on them and fulfill these?

2.      We are tested by present commitments.

These are commitments you determine to do now, goals accomplished in the present. For example, maybe itís a commitment to a better diet or regular exercise. Perhaps itís an hour after school with your family at least once a week. These are present commitments you enact in your present schedule, your life right now.

This level of commitment will start to define you. Itís the point where our obedience comes in and our commitment to God will be tested. For example, when God tells you to get up early and do your devotions, or to go home and take care of your spouse. We can choose to obey God and honor our commitment to Him with this ìsmallerî commitment to obey or not. This is when we can either start making excuses for our commitments or we can begin making leeway on our goals. That choice is ours to make.

Q4: What are some present commitments youíre devoting time, energy and maybe even money to? How are you doing in each of these?

How we do in our present commitments begin to define what kind of person we are, more than our future commitments will. However, itís the last type of commitment that truly defines usÖ

3.      We are defined by our past commitments.

This level of commitment will define us the most. Past commitments are the things that God has asked us to do and how weíve handled that. For example, in your marriage, with your family, in ministry or wherever God has called you to be in this seasonóhow are you doing in these areas?

How we have fared in these past commitments truly define our character. There is a great definition of commitment that has helped me to stay committed to what God calls me to, even when things seems to go sour or when something has lost its initial excitement and emotion:

COMMITMENT: Staying true to a worthy decision long after the emotion of making that decision has passed.

What we have committed to in the long run, after the emotions have died down, is what defines us in the end. Stay true to that which God has called you to do! If indeed it was a worthy decision, its worth your commitment until God releases you, but not when youíve determined that youíre done. Our past commitments will be our defining moments at the last.

Q4: Are you typically committed even after the emotions have died down? Share a short story when you were/werenít and what happened.

Q5: Is there a past commitment that you havenít stayed true to and how will you turn it into a defining moment?

Through his life, the Apostle Paul articulated two foundational commitments that every single one of us must make in our lives as wellÖ

TWO FOUNDATIONAL COMMITMENTS:

I.                   OUR COMMITMENT TO RELATIONSHIPS.

ìMake every effort to come to me soonÖOnly Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.î (2 Tm. 4:9,11). These were some of Paulís last words, an urgent plea for his closest friends (Timothy and Mark) to join him. He knew he was possibly facing his last winter and wanted to be with those whom he loved. Paul understood that nothing else on the face of the earth is as valuable as our relationships with others.

Relationships are your commitment to those whom God has told you to love. They are the only thing that remain in the end and, subsequently, are a critical factor in defining you. When people give eulogies, they always talk about what was left as a legacy. They talk about the personís commitment to relationships during their lifeóhow they loved their children, their spouse or even how they contributed to the community. Rarely ever do you hear how much money, investments or assets they had when they passed away, itís always about their relationships. Just like Paulís commitment to his friends Timothy, John Mark, and Luke.

When itís all said and done, who will you desire to be close to in the end? Whose life will you want to have invested in, so much so that you ask for them in your last moments? Or reach to them in your times of need?

Q6: What relationships has God asked you to be truly committed to?

II.                OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD.

ìI have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faithÖî (2 Tm. 4:7).

When everything was stripped away from Paul, he still had his commitment to God. Paul leaves us a legacy that reminds us that our commitment to Jesus Christ is more important than anything. When all thatís left is your commitment, this will be your defining character in the end.

Q7: Does your commitment to God need improvement? How can you do this in a practical way in your own life today?

Thereís a story of a mother with a strong commitment to Christ who would pray with her 6-year-old daughter every night. The girlís father, on the other hand, had no commitment to Christ and would actually come against what her mother was saying, saying she was a ìreligious fanatic.î

During the years, the little girl was torn between her mother and fatherís commitment to Christ. Soon, the little girl was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable cancer and in the final moments of her short life, she asked her father to tell her the truth about Christ.

In the end, our faithful commitment to God is what will hold us. Donít make it the first thing we throw away. Make commitment the last thing we cling tight to. Because, really, in the end, whatís going to define you and I is our commitments.

Final Q: What most impacted you from todayís lesson? How will you be different today because of what youíve just learned?

Many Mahalos to our newest volunteer, Christy Itamoto! Ya-HOO 4 YOU!!!