Five Keys to Committing to Your Dreams
by Mica Olinghouse
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you click through and purchase a product, we will earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
As we turn the page over into a new year, most of us are thinking about the many dreams and goals we’d like to see fulfilled in the next 12 months. If we’re serious about achieving our dreams, we’ll create deadlines, schedules, strategies, and methods that will help make our dreams become a reality. While it’s critical to nail down the minute details of the what, when, and how, actually committing to the follow-through process is the most important aspect of reaching our goals. Without that unflinching commitment, all our dreams will remain meaningless, inactivated thoughts on lined, white paper.
From my experience as an editor and entrepreneur, I know first-hand the commitment it takes to birth a creative concept from the pregnant heart, give it life, grow it up, and bring it to a place of full maturity that reaches the hearts of others. The creative process is often long and detailed, but the gift of touching others through the spoken and written word continues to bring me great delight and satisfaction. All the pain of commitment is worth the joy of fulfillment!
Committing to our dreams requires a number of natural, physical, emotional, and spiritual disciplines. As my pastor says, “It takes the natural and the supernatural coming together to make an explosive force for God.” Since we are a three-dimensional being, true godly success comes when we have committed our entire being to the dreams God puts in our hearts. Once we have aligned our spirits, souls, and bodies to pursuing the plan of God, progress towards those God-given dreams is evident and secure.
While I won’t try to list every key element required for successful commitment, I would like to bring your attention to 5 very important areas that are essential to long-term success. Whether you are a writer or an editor, a minister or a layperson, a business owner or a home-maker, these 5 keys will help navigate you through the waters of productivity and bring you safely to the shores of your dreams!
1. COMMIT TO KINGDOM WAYS
Above all, if you want to see your dreams fulfilled in 2017, you must commit to Kingdom Ways. In our modern culture, it’s so easy to become distracted with flashing lights, sleek images, and powerful platforms. But what most people don’t realize is that anything built exclusively in the flesh will fall. As you begin moving towards your dreams in any area, make sure they are God’s dreams for you first. And then, step by step, walk those dreams out in His timing and with His ways. If you will commit to Kingdom Ways of doing things, you’ll see those dreams explode with power and anointing!
2. COMMIT TO PRAYER
True God-given dreams begin in the heart—and because they are spiritual in nature, they must be processed spiritually. Every dream that originates with God—from writing a book to launching a business, to stepping out in ministry—must be birthed in prayer, accessed by prayer, walked out in prayer, and finished up by prayer. A prayerless writer is a powerless writer. A prayerless preacher is nothing but an echo talking on a platform. A prayerless business owner is chained to the natural course of earthly economics and physical stress. It is the Spirit’s power and direction that amplifies your voice, sustains your strength, and promotes your ministry. If you want to accomplish dreams greater than yourself, commit to be a person of prayer.
3. COMMIT TO CONSECRATION
In a day and age where carnality is the norm—even among Christian ministers—it is the consecrated Christian whom God will use in these last days. Sin and its effects not only delay your dreams, but they will also taint the vessel as well as the message. Since you can only give to others what you have inside, if your inside is dirty, your outreach will be dirty as well. Stay away from sin, allow God to keep you pure, and commit to holiness. As you commit to a consecrated life before God, He will pour His glory through you and whatever you do.
4. COMMIT TO DISCIPLINE
We all know discipline is difficult on the flesh, but it is the key ingredient to long-term success in every area of life. Want to have a healthier body? Discipline your flesh to put away the donuts and go to the gym. Want to become a better writer? Turn the TV off and read a book. Want to grow your ministry? Spend more time in the Word and prayer. The answers are simple, but it’s overcoming our screaming flesh that makes the process difficult. Regardless of the challenges, do it anyway. Commit to discipline and run after your dreams!
5. COMMIT TO WALKING BY FAITH
Finally, no matter how big the giants are, look at your dreams with the eyes of faith. Don’t become discouraged with apparent inadequacies, insufficiencies, or impossibilities. In Christ, you are more than an overcomer, more than a conqueror. You CAN run this race! You can reach that goal. You can achieve that God-sized dream. If you will only trust the Lord in the process and walk with Him every step of the way, you can defeat your giants one stone at a time. Stay committed to walking by faith, and your dreams will come to pass!
I pray this is an extraordinary year for you, your ministry, your families, and your businesses. We are heading into some unusual days in the Body of Christ, and I believe the best books have yet to be written, the most powerful preachers have yet to come on the scene, and the most prosperous times have yet to be lived. So commit to the dream God’s given you, and be faithful to use what He’s put in your hand. We are entering a new season for the Church in these last days, and the righteous shall flourish in 2017!
Are you ready to commit to your dream of becoming an author?
Love it? Share it!
Recommended Reading
LOVE THIS ARTICLE?
Don’t Miss Out on Professional Tips & Secrets!
Get the Fusion Blog delivered straight to your inbox.