Commitment: Follow Through or Flake? (Core Qualities of Christian Leaders)

What's up, you guys? OK.

Look, we've all made the mistake of saying yes when we should have said no. We've all been in a situation where we made a commitment to something or someone and now we just don't feel like doing it anymore. What do you do in that situation? In this video, I'm gonna show you some quick ways to handle that situation.

The Importance of Commitment for Leaders

If you are a leader with a leadership position and there are people counting on you to follow through on that commitment, then this video is especially important for you. But even if you're not in a leadership position, commitment is a leadership quality that's important for all of us to develop because there's always going to be somebody counting on you, whether it's a parent, sibling, friend, or the other people in your group for that group project. So, commitment is worth thinking about and doing well.

Realizing the Impact of Your Commitment

And you know what, sometimes that person who's counting on you to follow through is you. So when you feel tempted to be flaky, to not respond to the text or the email, or to make up an excuse for why you can't do what you said you were going to do, or worst of all, you just don't show up, this is what you can do.

Finding Your 'Why'

First, find the why for why you said yes to begin with. Chances are there was something when the opportunity came up that grabbed you in a positive way. There was something about the opportunity that you were attracted to, that you wanted to commit to, and you've just probably lost sight of that reason. So just take a moment and ask yourself, why did I want to do this in the first place?

Personal Experience

So a couple of weeks ago, I was washing up, getting ready for bed at the end of the day and a text came through from a friend. It was an invitation to lunch. And at the time I said yes because I was done with work. I was in a rest mode and lunch actually sounded fun. So I went ahead and committed. I scheduled it.

We planned the location and the time and then when the day actually came, I was in a state of productivity. Have you been in that situation where you are just flowing? The work is getting done.
You're focused, and I did not want to drop everything and go to lunch.

So I needed to find my why and get reconnected with why I said yes to this lunch date in the first place. And once I thought about it, it's because this is a friend that I hadn't seen in a long time and she was a friend that I wanted to get to know better. And I knew that you can't get to know a person better without spending time with them without making that a priority.

And once I remembered that I said yes. And I meant yes. And I dropped everything and I drove to the restaurant where she actually had some very important news to share with us. And I am so, so glad that I kept my commitment and did not flake out on her.

And another time I had signed up to help out with this outreach for unsheltered people in the community. And it was early on a Saturday morning and I just did not want to wake up. I did not want to have to get there that early on a weekend.

But I had to reconnect with my why, and I remembered all the faces of the people who would benefit from my service that day and all the people I did care for and did want to help and was willing to sacrifice a Saturday morning to help.

So other people are often at the other side of your commitment, you do affect other people when you don't follow through. Other people will not get to benefit from the blessing that you are if you choose not to show up.

Strategies to Overcome the Temptation to Flake Out

The second strategy you can use when you're tempted to flake out instead of follow through on a commitment is to allow yourself to feel the resistance, feel the regret, feel the upset, feel the sadness that you have to maybe give up something else that you would rather do instead of following through on that commitment.

And then you know what you should do and what all good leaders do? They follow through. They feel the feels, and then they follow through anyway. Because commitment is the disciplined act of doing what needs to be done, even when you don't feel like it.

There's a great quote that says, "Motivation is what gets you started. Commitment is what keeps you going." So you can be a good leader for others and for yourself by deciding --- just deciding that you don't need to feel like doing something in order to do it.

You don't need motivation. You just need discipline. Remind yourself that the feelings you are looking for in order to follow through on a commitment will come AFTER the action you take when you do what you need to do.

Taking Action Despite Resistance

"Ok, wait, wait, wait, how do I take action when I don't feel like it? Is that even possible?"

Yes, but this is where you need to ask for help from a source that is outside of you. You are now facing your limitations. You are now at capacity and you need more than you can muster up in yourself. And this is where you pray, you ask God for the strength that you don't have, for the motivation that you don't have, for the discipline that you need in order to follow through on an important commitment.

Fighting for Your Integrity

The last strategy for how you can follow through instead of flaking out on a commitment is by fighting for your integrity.

"Integrity. Why are you talking about integrity? This ain't that deep."

Ok? We need to talk about integrity because your word is at stake. And when you make a commitment, you give your word to somebody; you give your word to yourself.

Maybe the commitment that you're thinking about is not some promise that you made to somebody else. It's actually a promise that you made to yourself.

• I promise I am going to sleep by 10 p.m.
• I commit to waking up at 5 a.m. to study for that test or work out or read my Bible, have a devotional.
• I commit - I promise - to not open YouTube while I'm trying to do my homework.
• I commit to putting my phone in another room while I am studying.

We make commitments to ourselves. We make promises to ourselves. And it's important that we take seriously those promises. We must take our word seriously.

Every leader has to keep his word. That is how you gain trust and you earn respect from other people.

But the first person that you need to build trust and gain respect from is you. And if you're not taking your word seriously, your word to yourself and your word to others, then you are compromising your integrity. How? Your walk is not matching your talk; you cannot be trusted. Your words are unreliable. There is no leader that is going to be effective who cannot keep her word.

Conclusion & References

To wrap this up, you know, the ultimate commitment that you will ever make in this lifetime is not to another person or to an organization or to a leadership role. Your ultimate commitment is to Jesus Christ. And the best news ever is that He is more committed to you than you will ever be to Him.

So when we are talking about commitment, we learn from Jesus and we allow His commitment to us to inspire us. And we see His level of commitment using the three strategies that I just shared in this video. When he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane - the night he was arrested, right there we see Jesus finding His 'why.' He got reconnected with His 'why' because He was praying that this cup would pass from Him if it wasn't the Father's will for Him. Jesus found His "why."

YOU are His "why."

Jesus also allowed Him to feel all the resistance of going to the cross. He didn't want to be tortured and humiliated and crucified. Jesus felt all the resistances and yet He allowed Himself to be arrested and taken away anyway; He felt the resistance and then He wen to the cross anyway.

Finally, Jesus fought for his integrity in that Garden of Gethsemane. He knew He was going to keep His word. He fought for the promise that He intended to keep. And it was a real physical fight. He was sweating blood that night, right on a sleepless night when his disciples had fallen asleep and He felt so alone. He really did have to fight for His commitment to you.

We see in Jesus that His commitment to you cost Him everything. Commitment is sacrificial. Commitment is that "whatever it takes" attitude--I will do whatever it takes to follow through and to keep my word. No excuses.

I hope this video has been helpful to you. It was inspired by chapter three of the book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell. This is the book I am taking middle and high school students through twice a month on Sunday nights in my Well-Led Life Leadership Mastermind. You can find more information about that program for students here: www.weleadthis.com/mastermind.

If you have any responses or any questions, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me via email at [email protected]. Please connect with me on Instagram: @weleadthis_brendajung