One of the greatest Scriptures on commitment in the Bible are the words of Ruth to Naomi: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.’ When we stand at the beginning of a new friendship, or any other type of relationship, we might feel afraid of truly committing time, effort, and emotions into it. We might experience fears like these: 1) Fear of pain: ‘I’ve been hurt before, and I don’t want to be hurt again.’ 2) Fear of inadequacy: ‘What if I’m not good enough for them? What if I can’t live up to their expectations?’ 3) Fear of lack: ‘What if the other person ends up taking things from me?’ 4) Fear of losing control: ‘Why should I give up my independence?’ 5) Fear of loneliness: ‘What if they walk away from me?’ Weighed down by these fears, we might only allow the friendship to be a shallow one, keeping a bit of distance and never really letting the other person get to know us properly. Or we might avoid a relationship altogether to save ourselves from the possibility of being hurt. But God designed us to have companions, and He’ll place the right people in our lives – we just need to use discernment and prayer when it comes to making a commitment. So when you meet someone new, whether that’s a friend, a work colleague, or a potential romantic partner, make sure you talk to God about the relationship before you decide to reject it or to jump in, and ask for His guidance on how to proceed.
