Commitment Trumps Convenience

This summer I joined a women’s bible study on Gideon. I didn’t know the women, the church it was hosted at, or a whole lot about Gideon outside of the fact he won a battle with 300 men.

I learned a lot especially about confidence, about trusting God will do what he tells you he will do, about winning battles with unusual weapons (including weakness) and about how commitment trumps convenience.

The teacher for this bible study is Priscilla Shirer. I’d never studied anything she had written but highly enjoyed watching her each week on the videos. She finds things in the bible I never would have found, have ever heard, or would have ever understood. So many things she spoke have stuck with me. This phrase has just plain stuck in my head lately.

What does it mean for your commitment to trump your convenience?

I think we could all answer this question in all sorts of ways. Which area of my life are you referring to? The fact that it would be more convenient to buy new clothes than to do my laundry? I’m not committed to my laundry. But I am committed to not being wasteful and foolish ; )

It would be more convenient to sleep in longer than to get up and exercise. But I committed to working out 100 times before the end of the year.

It would be more convenient to grab something for dinner than make it every night. But I’m committed to feeding my family well, following our budget, and blogging meals consistently for my clients and followers.

It would be more convenient for my husband and I to fly to meet my family in Iowa this week. But I’m committed to making memories of long road-trips with my husband.

It would be WAY more convenient to eat what everyone else is having instead of planning ahead, and packing my own foods. But I’m committed to myself, my body and my physical well-being. 

This list could go on…and on..and on. In fact, it does. Each day I find myself rolling through these three words in my head:

“Commitment trumps Convenience” 

And when it does, I put the mundane things, my daily responsibilities, into one of these types of sentences. It brings me a little more perserverance to say “it’s worth it.”

It’s worth it to stay committed to my health.

It’s worth it to stay committed to my husband.

It’s worth it to stay committed to our financial goals.

Which reminds me of another phrase Priscilla shared that has stuck in my head.

“Make today’s decisions with tomorrow in mind.”

These commitments we make…well, the reasons we made them in the first place…the benefits…do not show up immediately. Budgeting. Working out. Eating healthy. But we make these commitments knowing the rewards come eventually. Long-term gratification. Long-term goals. Way worth denying ourselves of short-term, immediate gratification.

So let your commitment trump convenience and make today’s decisions with tomorrow in mind.