Commitment?

When did commitment become a four-letter word?  More and more people are unwilling to commit to anything.  Why?

Distractions

We have so many options available that it is hard to make choices.  Think of internet search engines – you type in a word and get thousands of hits.  Instead of committing we spend our time seeking what else is out there or waiting to see what else will come up.

False Humility

We worry about being prideful or about not being the best that we reject the gifts that God has given us.  We put on an air of humility while refusing to acknowledge that God has purpose for us and wants to use us the way He designed.

Vagueness

We tell others to let us know when they need help instead of offering concrete help.  It makes us feel good that we offered yet many times we don’t intend to follow thru.  The idea of helping is more important than actually doing anything.

Laziness

Sometimes it is much easier to do nothing than to commit to something.  If we commit, we have to work hard.  We have to be willing to sacrifice.  It might make life more challenging for us when we are already busy.  If we commit, we might not have time to surf the internet, check out friends’ pictures on Facebook, watch our favorite show, go to the lake for the weekend, etc. 

Fear

We fear making the wrong choice.  We are afraid we might get hurt or that something might go wrong.  We fear the consequences of the unknown.  Maybe we tried to commit once, but it didn’t work out, so we fear now.  Maybe we have seen older adults, like our parents, suffer because of commitment, and we fear following in those footsteps.

We allow so many things to keep us from committing and even turn commitment into something negative.  If commitment is a four-letter word to us, what does that say about our commitment to Christ?  Can we have a commitment to Him if we can’t commit to anything else?

For information on how you can fight these excuses and choose to discipline yourself to make commitments, see The Discipline of Commitment.