Moby Dick
Competing Commitment
A competing commitment is a hidden commitment that competes with a desire.
- The stated desire is what we think is our true commitment.
- However, the competing commitment is what actually drives our behavior.
- The result is frustration and confusion.
- I truly desire to [fill in the blank] and yet I keep doing [fill in the blank]. Why?
Review of the Parable of the Sower
- The parable of the Sower is really about how God us.
- A shepherd’s job is to lead and feed. God does both with His .
Four Kinds of Soil/Four Kinds of Listeners
- Wayside (Level 1)
- Stony (Level 2)
- Thorny (Level 3)
- Good (Level 4)
The Level 3 Listener
- The Level 3 listener (Thorny Soil):
- Matthew 13:22
- Anxiety is a sign that there is something fractured in our relationship with God.
- Many people treat money as a substitute for .
- Be careful when you can for what you used to for.
- Your is not yours. (As in, “I’m following purpose”)
- Your is yours in that it has been assigned to you, but not because you own it.
- People pursue their own plans erroneously thinking they are following the .(Proverbs 19:21; Proverbs 16:25)
Competing Commitments Are a Form of Double-Mindedness
James 1:5–8
- What you think is an isolated matter is a systematic breakdown in your relationship with God.
The Competing Commitment Remedy
Philippians 4:6–7
- Substitute worry with .
- When you stop worrying, you will be able to pray with of thought and purity of heart. (James 4:1–3)
- Submitting our cares to the Lord in prayer is a source of peace and a sign that our relationship with God is whole.
- Giving full expression to our need for God is a sign of spiritual , not despair.
Philippians 4:8
- The remedy for anxiety is prayer and Scriptural meditation.
- What does scriptural meditation look like?
- Reading, Talking, Listening, Pondering, Reflecting Day and Night
- God leads us as we meditate on the Word.
Matthew 6:25–34
- Fear is -oriented.
- Fear imagines a future in which God is not
- Faith is -oriented.
- Faith sees who God is and knows that God is than how things are.
© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2021
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