BE-Gratitudes: 30 Days of Positive Attitudes – COMMITTED
November 7th, 2021
Day Seven: Committed
Philippians 2:1-4, ‘If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if this love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be so obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.’ (MSG)
I have had the honor of having a handful of committed relationships in my life. Not every relationship is, right? I didn’t always place the value on them which they deserved either. You know, put off for another day what someone might be needing from you today, and therein waste a priceless opportunity. But as life begins to catch up with me in the rearview mirror, I have begun to see and think on it differently. See, people are not expendable, and good friends don’t just fall from the sky or grow on trees. They must be grown in a soil made fertile with trust and camaraderie, nurtured with love and care, watered with time and humility, and pruned with honesty and forbearance. At the end of the day, however, there is nothing like the friendship with a committed, loyal and trustworthy friend, and there is also nothing greater you can offer to another but being sold-out, vested and devoted to those who qualify.
I am so grateful we have the example from Jesus of what authentic relationship looks like, because if we were to measure our worth in the eyes of some of the people in our lives, it could be quite discouraging. Jesus demonstrated a friend who sticks closer than a brother; how to edify others, building them up so they can visualize their calling; the depth of forgiveness and care due others, even at the cost of oneself; and, the ultimate sacrifice, which He not only testified to but fully exhibited, by laying down His very life for each and every one of us, no matter what. There will never be another ever who is capable of doing anything remotely close to what Jesus Christ did for me, and neither am I capable of that act of sacrifice and service. But I can at least learn from Him and give it my all to be a devoted companion in the relationships I am committed to.
Have you ever been let down by someone you tremendously counted on? How can you make sure not to do the same to another? Is reliability important in your relationships? Honesty? Trust? We might learn, as we put others before ourselves, a depth intensifies in our relationships that we likely didn’t experience before when we were solely thinking of, and even protecting, ourselves. Giving yourself away is both the greatest risk and the deepest reward…what will you choose today?
