Commitment

Original material by Don Krow with updates from Eileen Plemmons

You may have looked at the title for this teaching and thought we were going to discuss marriage. Well, before we can discuss “how to have a great marriage with your spouse” we must learn what it means to be committed to following Jesus. After all, if you are a born-again believer in Christ, then you are His bride which makes this a “marriage” relationship!

Luke 14:25-26 tells us that there were massive crowds following Jesus, when He turns to them and declares that they must put aside or “hate” all other close relationships if they want to be a true disciple of His. This is shocking!

However, this is not hating people in the sense that you are angry with them and want them out of your life. God is love and He’s not asking us to “hate” in that sense but He is calling us to a higher commitment. To put aside our closest relationships in favor of making Him #1.

There were and are many reasons why people follow Jesus then and now: Maybe to see a miracle, maybe to be fed physical as well as spiritual food. Maybe it’s the “cool” thing to do. Where are we in our relationship with Him when the mountain top experience is over, we’re in the valley of decision and He’s asking us to quit a job, move or do something we are uncomfortable with? Do we trust Him enough to do the thing He is asking? That’s where commitment comes in.

Jesus makes this statement, “to put aside” every close relationship because He knows that these people can have influence in our lives. Perhaps more influence than God has and that would pull us away from what He wants to do in our life and the lives of others.

Self-preservation, our bodies, the flesh, has a very strong pull on us unless we discipline

ourselves by renewing our mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:1-2). The most difficult relationship to deny is ourselves. Discipleship is NOT at no-cost. Jesus is asking us to follow Him, be #1 in our lives. Will we do it? With God’s help, the Word and self-sacrifice, we can!

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