Take a Leap in 2024

Commitment is key to accomplishing anything in ministry. Without commitment, you won’t finish anything.

You probably know many people in your church who struggle to commit. They jump from one relationship to another, one career to another, or one church to another. They never seem to give God time to work in their lives, and they always have a Plan B; they’re ready to bolt when life gets complicated. It’s a frustrating experience for leaders.

But, pastor, are you doing the same thing? Are you watching your ministry flounder because you’re regularly shuffling through new priorities?

That pattern never leads to success in ministry or any other area of your life.

There are three things that tempt us as leaders to give up before finishing: 

• Problems—Every good idea has something wrong with it. Even the Promised Land had giants in it. Unfortunately, those problems scare us and make us want to quit what God is calling us to do.

• Pressures—Reaching the goal can become too much responsibility to handle alone. Moses’s father-in-law recognized this and told him, “Moses, this job is too heavy a burden for you to try to handle all by yourself” (Exodus 18:18 TLB). God never meant for success to be a one-man show. When the pressures get too heavy, God intends for us to get help, not give up. 
• People—In ministry, people may be the greatest discouragement of all. The people we lead are sinners and far from perfect. They will disappoint and criticize us. Inevitably, those negative attitudes spread and make us want to give up.

The only way to overcome the problems, pressures, and people that threaten to derail your 2024 commitments is to never give up. Remember what Jesus told his followers: “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62 NLT).

So, pastor, “Don’t look back!”

The way you get to be a success in life is to keep moving forward and outlast your critics. Commitment is a key to accomplishment. If you’re not fully invested in your ministry, nothing will ever get done.

Joshua understood this. Remember what he did right before the Israelites crossed over into the Promised Land? “Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over . . . Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you’” (Joshua 3:1,5 NIV).

Consecrating yourself is an act of total, unreserved commitment. Joshua made it clear to the people he was leading: “We’re going for it—no matter what happens!”

You can’t use baby steps to jump across a canyon. You have to cross it with gusto. That’s true in your ministry as well.

Unless you’re ready to move forward with a “whatever it takes” attitude, you’re not ready to step out in faith toward your ministry goals. If you’re chasing down a big goal, stop looking back. It’s time to jump.