“In the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, the litanies (petitions) end with “… let us commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.” The word “commend” is sometimes translated as “commit,” as we have defined it. But the word “commend” adds a deeper sense to the dedication of our work to God. To “commend” means to place it in God’s hands. When we put all that we in the Lord’s hands, then we no longer need to be anxious about how it will turn out. What a comfort and relief it is to know that the Lord will take care of what is dedicated to Him. He will direct it toward His purpose. And He will ensure that the offering of our work to Him will give Him glory.” (Fr. Basil)
“ “Let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.” The Celebrant says this multiple times…Why is this repeated so much? The answer to this question is simple, in that its repetition shows how important it is for a person to entrust their whole life to our Lord and God Jesus Christ….By expressing this commitment to the Lord with these words and more, we acknowledge that we have nothing of our own….We are God’s creatures, and even when humanity turned against their Creator, it was the Son of our God again who…brought us back with the price of His own Precious Blood…Just because we belong to God, this does not mean that God forces us to be close to Him. He wants our relationship with Him to be freely chosen, in that we make the decision (and act accordingly) to entrust “our entire life” to His omnipotent and caring hands.” (Metropolitan of Pisidia Sotirios)
“Combining the “convenient” with our “commitment” within our contemporary social and cultural life is, to some degree, an option. We often don’t allow the Church to “get in the way” of our plans and goals, and that may be hard to avoid in the circumstances and conditions of our present “way of life.”…The surrounding social and cultural milieu no longer supports our commitment to Christ and the Church. In fact, it is usually quite indifferent and it may even be hostile toward such a commitment. Though we may hesitate to admit it, we find it very challenging not to conform to the world around us. But it is never impossible to choose our commitment…” (Orthodox Church of America)
“Embedded at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ teaches us that “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” [Matthew 6:24]… Perhaps one important interpretive key in this teaching of Christ would be the use of the term “master,” as pointed out for us in Saint John’s words above. “Master” in this context means that to which we are drawn to obsessively—wholeheartedly, we could say. Something that demands our allegiance and deepest levels of commitment; our undivided attention and zealous pursuit. Or, even more bluntly, if mammon is our master, then we are its servants/slaves. This would be the “treasure” to which are hearts are drawn. But mammon is a treasure unworthy of our hearts! The effect would be to debase our very humanity by such idolatry. Yet, if God is our “master,” then that very wholehearted commitment and zeal, the allegiance and commitment implied in such a relationship, would result in making us God’s worthy servants.” (Fr. Stephen Kostoff)
“The Lord Jesus shapes our cross in order to develop commitment in those He loves, so that we will die to our desires and exhibit only His will through our words and deeds. Nothing is forced on us, but the Lord reminds us what is at stake: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:35).” (Dynamis 3/19/2023)
“Christian faith requires the commitment of our whole life. Yet few go from being uncommitted to being fully committed in a single stroke. What does the process look like? It can look very different for different people. It is dangerous to standardize Christian experience.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“The spiritual life is an adventure, full of pitfalls and great heights…the road to Paradise must begin with a commitment to make the journey our main priority…Salvation is a process, not a one-time commitment.” (Abbot Tryphon)
“Conversion to God is marked by a change in our lives, a commitment to live a new life, commitment to live a God-fearing life, a commitment to live a holy life.” (Father John Zeyack)
“It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” (Pope John Paul II)
"Many people, monastics and laypeople alike, may not realize it, but marriage and monasticism have a good deal in common. Both are lifelong commitments to something apart from ourselves. Both require the same sacrifice of the will. Both are means of mastering the passions and are paths to holiness and salvation." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“Each person must take up his/her own “cross.” The burden in this world is different for each person, and each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for their salvation and the salvation of those around them…Commitment to following Christ is not just a one-time event…it is the continual practice of faith and obedience…” (Orthodox Study Bible, Luke 9:23)
“This movement away from self and toward the other reflects our commitment to loving like Christ…Commitment to Christ moves people out of their comfort zones.” (Dynamis 8/30/2015, Life Application Study Bible, Hebrews 5:12-13)
“It’s more than interesting to notice how unblemished humanity responds to aloneness and mistreatment. As our Lord hung on the cross, He didn’t require others to treat Him fairly. Even though He was alone and wrongly treated beyond imagination and even though He mightily wished His pain could be avoided, His commitment to the Father’s purpose and to rescuing us from judgment never became secondary to His desire for immediate relief. It would never have occurred to Him to use suffering to excuse self-interest.” (Larry Crabb)
“The way we live shows others the strength of our commitment to serving God… If we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like.” (Life Application Study, Joshua 24:15, Matthew 5:14-16)
“When life is going well, we tend to take God for granted; but when we lose hope, we cry out to Him. This kind of relationship with God can result only in an inconsistent, up-and-down spiritual life. A consistent, daily commitment to God promotes a solid relationship with Him. Look to God during both the good and bad times, and you will have a stronger spiritual life.” (Life Application Study Bible, Jonah 2:1-7)