The Greatest Commitment You'll Ever Make

Luke 14:26 (ESV) isn’t a scripture we hear much about, but it contains such a valuable principle for our lives and our relationship with God. In this verse, Jesus tells us:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

This is an intense scripture! However, Jesus uses this language because He really wants us to get His point. He’s not saying we should hate our family or other people. He’s teaching us the importance of making Him our priority and the number one object of our affections. Nothing and no one should rival our commitment to God.

Making the Commitment

Commitment means “to pledge yourself to a thing or position.” A committed person will stick with someone in good times and bad. That’s what a marriage is—a commitment.

In fact, marriage is such a great analogy for our relationship with God. Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Bridegroom, and the Church is referred to as His bride. It’s the perfect symbol for love, faithfulness, unity, and commitment.

Let’s look at this in practical terms. More than 50 years ago, when I was still dating Dave and we weren’t married yet, I didn’t have access to everything that was his. However, when I married Dave and made that commitment, everything that was his became mine! I didn’t own a car before, but now Dave’s car was also my car. Even the little bit of money he had saved was no longer just “his,”—it was “ours.”

I think a lot of people just want to “date” God. They want enough of a relationship with Him to make sure they’re going to Heaven, but they don’t want to make the long-term commitment. As a result, they miss out on so any of the great perks that come along with it...they give up the great life God wants them to have!

I want to make it clear that I’m not talking about salvation—we are saved by God’s grace, through faith. Our salvation depends upon our believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

Sadly, however, many Christians never go beyond this point. They have a relationship with Jesus and they’re on their way to Heaven, yet they’re not enjoying everything God has for them in this life...and they’re also not impacting the world around them.

The “Honeymoon Phase”

You see, when we first begin our relationship with God, it’s usually all about us—we’re more focused on asking Him to fix our problems and give us things we want. I like to call this the “honeymoon phase” and I think this it’s normal. However, we weren’t meant to stay on the honeymoon our entire lives!

I was stuck in this place for years. I like to say I had Jesus, but He didn’t have all of me. I wanted to tack Him on to my life, without ever having to change anything. I wanted Him close by if there was an emergency but didn’t really want to be bothered with the other stuff.

But then God helped me to finally understand how it works. Everything I really wanted in life—peace, joy, healing, fulfillment, a better marriage, the opportunity to use the teaching gift He has given me—is all found in a deeper relationship with Him.

A Deeper Relationship

God’s plan is for us to cultivate our own unique, personal relationship with Him. We do this by spending time in His Word and talking with Him in prayer. And as we do, something incredible happens—the Lord begins to change us into His image, and He helps us to grow up and mature spiritually. He leads and directs us into His perfect will for our lives and helps us receive the amazing things He promises in His Word.

You see, Satan strives to distort the truth. He wants people to think of Christianity as a list of everything we have to give up—he wants us to think it’s all about what we can’t have and can’t do.

But the exact opposite is true! God desires for us to enjoy our lives to the fullest (see John 10:10). He always has our best interest in mind, and everything He ever asks us to do is always for our good. For instance, when God asks us to let something go—whether it’s bitterness, a bad attitude, or a bad habit—it simply means He has something better that He wants to give us!

Go All In!

When it comes to God, the greatest advice I can give you is to go “all in.” Make a firm decision that you’re going to get to know Him and have every single thing He promises in in His Word. Decide to make Jesus your number one priority and choose to stick with Him through every season in life, in good times and bad.

Because when you decide to follow after God with all of your heart, it’s the best commitment you will ever make.