“Letting go of anything you love is hard…Knowing how and when to move on from one dream to another isn’t easy, but I knew it was time to start living a different dream. Letting go of a dream can be extremely hard, yes, but it’s also liberating.”
– Bart Knaggs (Epiphany, p. 224)
Growing up I was taught to be committed. To be committed to my word. To be committed to my actions. To be reliable. To not just say one thing and do another.
It was instilled in me at an early age from my parents, my church, from an older generation, that I was to be faithful. And through the years of growing up, there were many a hard lesson where I learned the importance of being committed no matter the difficulty.
I have applied this to not just the relationships in my life, but to many areas of my life. Whether it be music, work, teaching, meeting someone, brainstorming ideas, I try and be committed and faithful and never to just give up.
But this season I have to learn how to give up.
Honestly? It's not something I do well. I blame this mostly on my upbringing because I was taught never to just give up. So when I commit, well, I do so for the long haul - for better or worse.
But not every area I commit to demands that intense a commitment. Being faithful is good. Jesus himself talked about us being faithful. But there will come days in our lives where certain things will just not require us to commit anymore.
It can be anything from a class that has ended, to a production that is over, to a relationship that has broken off. If my Music Theory class has ended for the semester, there is no call for me continuing to be faithful in attending and studying for it. This is obvious. But not all cases are so lucid.
And this semester, I am learning day by day, slowly how to stop myself from being faithful and committed to a dream that has demanded it end. For the past couple months I feel like the kid who is still going to Music Theory class and doing his homework even though the class is done.
"The class is over Josh. You can stop showing up. Your faithfulness is no longer needed. You don't need to be committed. There is nothing to be committed to. Go home." is what a teacher would say.
So this fall, this winter, and probably many a season to come, I am going to work each and every day on not being committed and faithful to dreams that are no more. Class has ended. I need to go home.
– Bart Knaggs (Epiphany, p. 224)
Growing up I was taught to be committed. To be committed to my word. To be committed to my actions. To be reliable. To not just say one thing and do another.
It was instilled in me at an early age from my parents, my church, from an older generation, that I was to be faithful. And through the years of growing up, there were many a hard lesson where I learned the importance of being committed no matter the difficulty.
I have applied this to not just the relationships in my life, but to many areas of my life. Whether it be music, work, teaching, meeting someone, brainstorming ideas, I try and be committed and faithful and never to just give up.
But this season I have to learn how to give up.
Honestly? It's not something I do well. I blame this mostly on my upbringing because I was taught never to just give up. So when I commit, well, I do so for the long haul - for better or worse.
But not every area I commit to demands that intense a commitment. Being faithful is good. Jesus himself talked about us being faithful. But there will come days in our lives where certain things will just not require us to commit anymore.
It can be anything from a class that has ended, to a production that is over, to a relationship that has broken off. If my Music Theory class has ended for the semester, there is no call for me continuing to be faithful in attending and studying for it. This is obvious. But not all cases are so lucid.
And this semester, I am learning day by day, slowly how to stop myself from being faithful and committed to a dream that has demanded it end. For the past couple months I feel like the kid who is still going to Music Theory class and doing his homework even though the class is done.
"The class is over Josh. You can stop showing up. Your faithfulness is no longer needed. You don't need to be committed. There is nothing to be committed to. Go home." is what a teacher would say.
So this fall, this winter, and probably many a season to come, I am going to work each and every day on not being committed and faithful to dreams that are no more. Class has ended. I need to go home.
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