{"id":90787,"date":"2025-09-26T14:38:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=90787"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:38:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:38:58","slug":"commitment-is-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/commitment-is-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"Commitment Is Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n<p>As I survey the fractured state of the people of America in general, and God&#8217;s people specifically, I&#8217;m humbled and grateful for those precious saints in congregations across the continent and around the world who understand the concept of congregational loyalty while others wander looking for greener pastures; who support their leadership even when decisions are made they don&#8217;t agree with; who encourage and uplift even when they&#8217;re discouraged; who overlook their own desires without imposing them on others even when those convictions are strongly held; who quietly and without fanfare simply work to be the best they can be while encouraging others to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>May their tribe increase.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus<\/em>&#8221; (Philippians 2:1-5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Zeke Flores As I survey the fractured state of the people of America in general, and God&#8217;s people specifically, I&#8217;m humbled and grateful for those precious saints in congregations across the continent and around the world who understand the concept of congregational loyalty while others wander looking for greener pastures; who support their leadership&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1177],"class_list":["post-90787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-commitment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55206,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/blind-to-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":0},"title":"Blind to the Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Upton Sinclair once said, \"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.\" Few better illustrations of this truth exist than the behavior of the craftsmen of Ephesus in Acts 19. They, along with everyone else\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blindfold-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-wedding-necessary-since-people-dont-always-keep-their-promise\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":1},"title":"Is a wedding necessary since people don&#8217;t always keep their promise?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I'm new to this website and I have an important question regarding premarital sex. My best friend and I love each other to the point where we like to show affection toward each other. We are 100% sure that we will stay together forever. I'm his first partner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-unto-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":2},"title":"Do Unto Others","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them\" (Luke 6:31). This does not mean: Do unto others as they have done to you. This is not revenge permission. It is acting contrary to revenge, as you would never wish for someone to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-gospel-political\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":3},"title":"Is the Gospel Political?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer No\u2026 and yes. First, no. The gospel is not about parties and political power. It is not a brand of worldly government, for it transcends all governments (see Isaiah 2:1-4; Daniel 2:44-45). We can be Christians regardless of the political system in which we live. Some are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91970,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-remain-a-christian-when-christians-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":4},"title":"Why Remain a Christian When Christians Sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Why do we stay faithful to Jesus when so many churches and people do so much wrong? It's a common complaint. Here is an elder, a deacon, or a preacher who fell from grace in some way or abused other members. Here is a church that is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":528,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/waiting-for-the-proper-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":90787,"position":5},"title":"Waiting for the Proper Time","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Few youngsters enjoy being told they must wait. When a thought enters their heads, they want to act on it right now. If they desire something, it must be in their possession right now. Any delay to a person who has not lived long appears to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}