Commitment

If your faith is in Christ, his Spirit has already made you a vital “body part” of his church: not only accepted, but honored, respected and needed. This is one of the sweetest fruits of the Gospel and one of the primary tools God uses to grow you in grace. Experiencing this reality, however, will cost you. The cost is commitment: not to the church as an organization, but to the actual people who make up the church — and especially those who are different from you in any way. Neglecting this bond with other body parts will cost you, too. When you try to live the Christian life alone or on the fringes of the community, it deprives you of nourishing truth, challenging perspectives, personal encouragement and opportunities to serve.