Skip to content Exercise Personal Commitment, Part 1 May 14 · 25 min ...more
Exercise Personal Commitment, Part 1
May 14, 2026 · 25 min
Chip explores the power of commitment and how you can harness that power to turn your life around by following some time-honored principles from the book of Nehemiah.
Series You Were Made For More May 14, 2026 · 25 min · You Were Made For More
Chip explores the power of commitment and how you can harness that power to turn your life around by following some time-honored principles from the book of Nehemiah. ...more Show the full description Show less Chip explores the power of commitment and how you can harness that power to turn your life around by following some time-honored principles from the book of Nehemiah.
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Chip Ingram is an American Christian pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry.
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The Awesome Power of Commitment 0:11 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.0:14 Do you find yourself wanting to do what's right, making commitments, and then in honesty, not being able to keep them? I mean big commitments, commitments to marriage, family,0:26 God, friends. If you long to learn how to make personal commitments and keep them, today's the day for you. Stay with us.0:36 Welcome to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Nehemiah chapter 3 is 1 of the most unusual chapters in all of scripture. It's essentially a long list of names, gates, and building assignments.0:48 But, buried in that list is 1 of the most practical pictures of what it actually takes to make and sustain a personal commitment. Today, Chip pulls back the curtain to reveal biblical principles that are just1:00 as true for your marriage, your walk with God, and the unique purpose he's placed in your heart, as they were for the people rebuilding Jerusalem's wall. Here's Chip Ingram with a message titled, exercise1:12 personal commitment.1:13 We're gonna talk about a personal commitment as the fifth step to turning God shaped dreams into reality. And I wanna talk about the awesome power of commitment. Just the idea. Think1:25 about, just right now, who's the most committed person in any area that you know. And I mean it could be the most committed Christian, most committed parent, most committed athlete, most committed business person, most1:36 committed student. Who is the absolutely over the top most committed person you know in any area? Have you got it? Got it in your mind? Here's what I want you to know. On your notes,1:49 commitment inspires us to greatness. Second, commitment protects us from short sightedness and moments of weakness.2:01 And third, commitment provides stability and focus and results in blessing. Commitment inspires us to greatness. The reason I brought this ball up is in seventh grade I was, I think2:13 4 foot 8 or 9. In eighth grade, I made it to 4 11 or about 5 foot. And then ninth grade, I just shot up to 5 feet 4. And that's when my basketball coach said, Chip,2:25 you weigh just about 105 pounds and I think you'd be a great wrestler. And, and I wanted to be a basketball player. And so, I remember going to a dinner. It was between my eighth grade and ninth grade year. And2:37 back then, where I was from, ninth grade was a part of junior high. And it was a large junior high, pretty large school system, and I grew up as a little boy going to the Friday night high school games, and the entire2:47 town would come out and it would be packed. I mean, the greatest thing in my mind ever would be to be a part of the blue and gold, Gahanna Lincoln Lions. And someday when I grew up, you know, be up and playing, you know,2:58 on the high school basketball team. And then my dream after that was to get a scholarship and play somewhere in college. I didn't care where. Just anywhere. And so you're 5 foot, probably about 2, between my eighth and3:10 ninth grade year, and they basically told me that, I should try another sport. And I went to this sports banquet. And this coach from a little university that had a good basketball program called Capital3:22 University was a speaker. And if you've ever heard a really good coach, they're awesome motivational speakers. And he was talking about going to a team in their conference, Kenyan College, and during the pre3:33 season, and his school was playing their school in football. And the basketball season went open in about a month, and when he was there, he saw a young man named John Rinca. This would be about the mid sixties.3:45 And John Rinca was 5 foot 9 and led the nation in scoring in small college. And now there wasn't a 3 point line, he averaged 41 points a game. And he was only 5 feet 9. And he told this story and he3:57 tells this story and he said that when he came in the gym, you know, if that's the basket there, John Rink would be on this side and he'd shoot and then he would run and he'd grab it. He'd go to the other end line. Stop,4:07 shoot, run, go to the other end line. And then he put a chair right here and then he would fake, stop, play it, go. And he said he was drenched in sweat. He wasn't like shooting around. They were drills that he was4:19 doing. He said they came in from the halftime of the football game and he was still doing it. He said the game was over. The whole football game. And John Rinca is4:30 still in the gym. And he made the point, greatness is not always or is it rarely a matter of ability? It's a matter of commitment.4:42 And 1 little boy, who's a big boy now, who's out of breath doing that, I remember a picture came into my mind and I decided that I4:54 was gonna be a basketball player. And without exaggeration, I practiced 6 to 10 hours a day. I would dribble in my room. I'd lay on the floor. I'd spin the ball on my finger.5:06 I saw an article about Pete Maravich that came out in Sports Illustrated right about that time. And he had all these drills he did behind his back. And I just I just did them. I tried to find guys 3, 4, 5 years older and5:18 get in the game. And I just played and played and played and played until I got to be 1 of those high school guys, blue and gold for the Gahan and Lincoln Lions. And then a, a very5:30 small school offered me a scholarship to play basketball at it. Commitment. Now, because of that, I didn't go to a junior senior prom. Because of5:42 that, I never put alcohol or drugs in my body. Not at all because I was religious. I was not a Christian. I'd never opened the bible. But commitment gives you focus. It gives you stability. It inspires to5:53 greatness. And the other thing it does is when I got tired, when I got weak, when I wanted to quit, when bigger guys were beating me up it sustained me because I thought to myself I had that6:05 picture of what I wanted to be and I was committed to it. I wasn't just emotionally committed to it. I wasn't intellectually committed to it. I was volitionally and willfully saying whatever it takes, whatever6:17 price, that's what I'm going to do. Now that's a silly little illustration, to tell you the truth, because it's just a sport. But that sport paid my way through college. It later opened the door for me to play6:28 basketball throughout all of South America a couple summers. We played every Olympic team, and I shared Christ at halftime. And that's where God called me into ministry. On a much more serious note, the6:40 awesome power of commitment protects you from short sighted moments of weakness. I got to be a committed believer and the people who helped me, I began to read the bible in the morning. I wanted to follow Christ6:53 and pretty soon we realized that God wanted Teresa and myself in full time ministry. And so we got married in December and then probably fairly unwisely, 6 months later, put everything we owned in a truck7:05 and we drove to Dallas to go to seminary. And then I worked full time, went to school full time, had 2 kids. And, about 18 months later, we realized we didn't know how to7:17 communicate, we didn't know how to resolve anger, and my wife was making me nuts. And I was making her more nuts. And apart from an irrevocable, willful, we made7:29 a vow to each other and before God, I would have just said, this is too hard. It was really hard. I I didn't I couldn't fathom that you could love someone so much and feel so angry and so hurt and so rejected.7:42 But you know what? Once you make a commitment see, what a commitment does, it keeps you from short sighted dropouts or giving ins in moments of weakness. And so we went to marriage counseling with 1 of my7:53 professors. And we learned how to communicate, and we learned how to resolve anger. But here's what I will tell you. The thought that we would ever quit was never an option.8:05 Commitment inspires to greatness. Commitment protects you from short sighted moments of weakness. And commitment provides focus and stability and great blessing from God.8:18 Let me ask you, how personally are you committed to the people and the things that matter most? That's what we're going to talk about. We've learned that a holy ambition, these God8:30 shaped dreams, they start with a dislocated heart, a broken spirit, a radical step of faith. You develop a strategic plan, and then you make a personal commitment about, first8:42 and foremost to God and then the role on the wall of the kingdom of God where he wants you to serve, where he's going to birth that holy ambition. Notice in your notes I gave you a definition of commitment. It's a pledge8:54 or a promise to do something. It's dedication to a long term course of action, relationship, project, or course. And I just want to remind you that when I'm talking about personal commitment, I don't mean9:06 that you intellectually or emotionally feel like I really ought to do that or I'll try to do it when it's convenient or I really want to do that as long as. I'm talking about the kind of commitment that says, I9:18 will choose to do this regardless of circumstances, regardless of how I feel, regardless what comes up against me. This is what I'll do. It's that kind of commitment9:31 that transforms you and the people around you. The, dynamics or the dilemma of commitment is this, is that I admire it when I see it. Right? You know the Olympics? Don't you just love the little Olympics when they9:43 do the little vignettes and there's little 5 foot 2 gymnast or they tell the story of someone that's gotten up since 4 30 in the morning and they are standing on this stage and you just see the product of9:55 commitment. I admire commitment. I want commitment in my life. But the fact of the matter is it's very hard to keep. For all of us. We're living in a day where people have a hard time. Forget keeping them. We're10:07 living in a day where people have a hard time making them. We're afraid to make commitments. We're so afraid that we'll fail, or we see so many of the people who fail. And so if we admire it, we long for it, and we know10:18 the value, how do you make and sustain personal commitments? That's what we wanna talk about. And the answer is going to be in Nehemiah chapter 3. We're going to see that10:29 he modeled it convincingly. He stepped out, he left his comfort zone, he left the palace, he went to Jerusalem. We're going to say he asked for it specifically. He said, I need you to10:41 help me build this wall. It's God's will. It's worth it. And then finally, we're gonna see he created an environment that sustained it.10:51 You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll have more in just a moment. Remember, the place to go for all of these daily messages is over on our website, living on the edge dot11:03 org. There you'll find Chip's full teaching library along with even more content like Chip's free daily discipleship tool to help you grow all week long. You can also download the Chip Ingram11:14 app absolutely free through any app store on your smart device. Now let's continue with today's message from Chip Ingram.Nehemiah 3: Blueprint for Sustaining Commitments 11:22 So open your notes if you will. And this is 1 of those times where I, I actually put the entire text in your notes. And then on the bottom of your notes, I put a picture. This is out of the Zondervan11:34 pictorial bible dictionary. It's a number of things and it's just a picture of the actual shape of the wall. And since it came from a little bit different area, you'll notice in the text here, there's about 12 different11:46 gates. And then in this picture, there's about 14. So over the years, they added a few more gates or the authors from different periods. Now when you just look at this, okay? This is just a chapter out of the Bible in11:57 front of you. I don't know about you, but it just, it doesn't just ooze excitement to me. Eliashe of the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and they rebuilt12:09 the Sheep Gate and they dedicated it and they set its doors in place and building as far as the Tower of Hundred and then they dedicated it as far as the Tower of Henel and the men of Jericho, they built adjoining And12:19 Zechar, the son of Imri, they built next to them. And then the fish gate, verse 5 and verse 6. Then the Joshanna gate. And then skip down, then you have the valley gate. And then look down, verse 14, the dung gate and12:31 the fountain gate. And what you see is this is a very unusual chapter of the bible that has a bunch of names that's geared around a bunch of gates that talk12:43 about where people come from. That talks about lots of different groups of people and basically summarizes who joined this rebuilding the wall project and then we learn later12:55 that in 52 days they get it done. And I hope that some of you are thinking, now you just said we're going to learn how to make and sustain personal commitments. How are you going to get that out of this?13:07 Right? I mean, do you just have to make up sermons when you come to chapters like this? No. Not at all. Let me walk through with you, a couple observations. The scripture13:19 says that all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness. And I just want to, you know, I've put some circles and some boxes. I put boxes around the13:31 geographical areas. I put circles around, the different people that were involved. Let me just walk through some observations, and all I did is do some Bible study. So let's just walk through quickly some observations.13:43 You know, when I look at this, and just hold the notes open, couldn't we all agree the gates are the central focus of this chapter? I mean, the paragraphs break and just, there's a line under them, they're real bold.13:54 Whatever this chapter is about, the central focus is the case. Second, there's a variety of people involved in this work. I mean there's personal names, sometimes it's their father, their grandfather, or where they come14:05 from. But I just listed some. There's merchants, there's priests, perfumers, goldsmiths, rulers, servants, temple servants, daughters, nobles, and officials. So, I mean, we're just making observations. A lot of different14:15 people here. Notice the project drew people and men from a variety of surrounding areas and towns. And by the way, when you do a little historical background, you realize they were in the midst of the summer harvest. Now14:26 think about this, the implication. This guy comes from Susa and he says, let's rebuild this wall. This is the will of God. And people are going, but wait a second, I live in Jericho. That's 17 miles from Jerusalem. Or I14:38 live in Mitzvah. That's 10 miles. Or I live in Tekoa. That's 10 miles. Or Gibeon is 6 miles. Or Beth Surah is 26 miles. And so they're leaving the summer harvest, their livelihood to join14:50 this man who has a word from God, who God has put his hand upon him and this is the clear defined will of God but notice the commitment it is. It's a commitment of time, it's a commitment of travel, it's a commitment of15:02 their money and economics. Fourth observation is the work began on the gates. It was the most vulnerable place defensively. It was usually the place where you would get water in a city. Second Samuel15:14 20 three:fifteen and 16 talks about, and they went to the city gates to draw water. It was the public meeting place. It would be sort of like our marketplace. It's where business was done. It's where the elders would15:25 meet. You know, the big decisions. It's where the law was read. And so it's the center of entry and exit. So when we think about making and keeping commitments, they started on the15:36 place that was the most strategic, the most vulnerable, and the most important. And by the way, some of the application for your commitments is what we tend to do is do the stuff that's easy first. They tackled the most15:48 difficult job first that was the most important. Next observation is, notice that the approach was very systematic and organized. They began on the sheep gate, and go ahead and16:00 let your mind scan all the way to the end, and they went counterclockwise. They end on the sheep gate. Each group had a specific responsibility. As you scan and read this a bit on your own, you know, this group built16:12 according to this wall. This group built in front of their house. This group did this over here. So each group had a very specific role and responsibility. And then I love this 1. They always worked with someone either16:24 next to them or after them. If you have time later or you can even do it right now, just scan quickly and every time the word next to him is there, put some sort of squiggly line under it or after him, next to him, after16:35 him, next to him, after him. It occurs over 25 times in this 1 chapter. No 1 works alone. Part of what we've learned about motivation and sustaining commitments is that when you get isolated and feel like you've got16:47 to lose weight on your own, break an addiction on your own, keep a commitment to God on your own, take a new step of faith on your own. Usually it'll last 2 days to 2 weeks. But if there's people,16:59 if there's accountability, if there's encouragement, if you know you're not alone, then you hang in there. Next observation is each group worked near their homes or at least was17:11 whenever possible. In verse 10, verse 22, verse 26, 28, 29, and 30, and so they didn't have to travel. And the other is there was sort of a godly vested interest. Can you imagine17:23 saying, Okay, we're going to rebuild this part of the wall right here. And the walls were I mean, don't think of a little wall. These were huge walls. You could drive a chariot on top of these walls. And then inside the17:33 walls, the housing would be built. So my living room might be here and then the external wall would be here. I'm thinking I'm going to do a pretty good job on this part of the wall if, you know, the catapults and the17:42 stones start coming and the arrows and the spears, I think I'm going to make it pretty thick and pretty good. I'm not going to do 1 of those. Well, this is good enough for government work. Right?17:54 And so he motivates them not only by the great intrinsic we're doing this for God, but he puts them in a place that highly motivates them to work in a way that has their best interest in18:05 mind. Notice the context. It's preceded by the apex of motivation and then it's followed by a big section of opposition. You need to remember that. At the end of18:17 chapter 2, it's let us arise and build. Nehemiah is here. We're gonna do it. Come on gang. Let's make a difference. You'd have been in those moments, right? People stand on top of chairs and this is what we're going to18:28 do. Let's go for it. Well now, this is how you sustain it. You can get fired up, but he has them with people. They have clear roles. They make a very specific commitment. They're doing it someone before18:40 them, someone next to them. We're going to learn in just a second that some people are going to repair and other people are going to build because our giftedness are different. Some people are really great at fixing18:50 stuff and other people think I can't fix anything, but they're great with a clean sheet of paper and they can build stuff. But then in the context, chapters 4, 5, and 6 will be about opposition.19:03 I mean, any time you take a step, whether you decide to start really reading your Bible or really praying or working on your marriage or saying as a family, we're gonna do something radical. We're gonna try and eat19:14 together, like at a table with nothing blaring, like 2 or 3 times a week. I'm gonna actually tuck my kids in and read them a story. Now, I'm gonna get with a group of single people and we're gonna19:26 make a covenant about making a difference in our workplaces and we're gonna be sexually pure. Every time you take any kind of step of faith like that it'll usually get worse before it gets better. So chapter19:38 4 you get external opposition and chapter 5 there's internal opposition and then chapter 6 he gets personal attack. So people who make these kind of commitments, they19:49 change, they change people around them, and they change the world. But it usually starts with some very significant time of motivation and it gets clear, this is what we've got to do. And then they start this process and20:01 usually it's followed by things that are very difficult. Notice who started the work. It's the high priest. Different people have responsibility. The high priest was the highest representative of20:13 God And notice the very first line, he models that. The ragtag group finished it in 52 days. And I have a friend who's an engineer who said, This is an absolute engineering miracle. It's an impossibility.20:25 And then notice they worked in affinity groups. If you could study it a little bit longer, the priests worked together, the merchants, the goldsmiths worked together, they worked in families, servants, and then they20:35 worked in geographical areas. So they knew each other. I mean, when you work, you're more motivated to work with people that you kind of have some kinship with. I mean, it's true today. Like, some of you are like real20:47 techie, and you can talk in languages that I don't understand. And some of you are more artistic, and some of you come from different parts of the country. And there's just an affinity of culture and background that as20:58 we work together with people that we can understand, it helps us sustain motivation.21:05 You've been listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled exercise personal commitment. It's part of our larger series called you were made for more, how to discover God's purpose for21:17 your life. And you can find this lesson and every message in this series at living on the edge dot org. You know, for over 30 years, Living on the Edge has been committed to helping Christians actually21:29 live like Christians. That mission is only possible because people believe it's worth backing. If you're a regular donor to Living on the Edge, thank you. Teachings like today's and resources like the 1 we're about21:41 to share with you are all reaching new listeners right when they need it because of your faithful giving. If you're listening today and you've never given to this ministry before, now is a great time to start. We've made21:52 it quick and easy to partner with us by going online to living on the edge dot org or by giving us a call at triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3. Now if you're trying to figure out22:04 where your section of the wall is, what God made you specifically to do and contribute, we have a special resource that can help. It's a free online assessment called The Real You, built to help you understand22:16 your God given personality, strengths, and design. Thousands of believers have found it to be a real turning point. So don't wait. Take it today absolutely free at the real you22:28 dot org. Well, now here's Chip.Your Place on God's Wall 22:30 As you listen to today's message, I wish we could have been together with the bible open. Because when you look at Nehemiah chapter 3 and see this list, I mean a list of gates and people and22:42 details and hard names, you look at that and you think, what could be here? And yet God cares so much about individuals that he records their names, and what they did and where they're from.22:54 Why? Because God doesn't just know in general. He knows specifically. He knows you. He knows your name. He knows where you go to work. He knows what driveway you pull23:06 into. He knows the burdens on your heart, and he wants you to be teamed up with other people to accomplish his purposes right where you're at. And here we have a picture of how God did it. He did23:17 an impossible thing. He didn't do it by some miraculous waving of the hand. He did it by regular ordinary people, finding their place, starting at the most strategic spot,23:29 being tied together with affinity and deep relationship, and then working together in cooperation, in coordination. Each person having their commitment sustained23:42 by the relationships and the projects that they were designed to do. So let me ask you, how are you doing with your commitments? What kind of help and support might you need to keep the23:53 commitment, to be the kind of marriage partner you know God wants you to be? What ministry are you involved in that you need to have a cup of coffee with someone and talk about what's going on? You see, there was someone24:05 next to them and someone after them that tied them together. You need that. If you're struggling with keeping your commitments, it may not be that you're weak willed and that you're a terrible person and that you just24:16 can't stay with it. It might be that you're not in the kind of environment that fosters and sustains commitments. You're important to God. Could I encourage you to get close to others that24:28 are committed to the Lord and get the kind of encouragement you need to fulfill that special place that only you can do?24:36 There's a question most of us quietly wrestle with. How do you make the kind of commitment that actually holds? Whether it's a commitment to God, to your marriage, or to a calling within your heart, Chip Ingram has24:48 real practical answers next time on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.In this video 0:00 The Awesome Power of Commitment11:22 Nehemiah 3: Blueprint for Sustaining Commitments22:29 Your Place on God's Wall
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