Defining Dedication and Revealing its Layers

Hello friends and welcome to our new one-word series: Dedicate! I have learned, through all the one-word series I've done, just how powerful one word can be and this one just might take the cake (and has many layers like a cake too).

Throughout these first few parts, I'm going to be looking for key words to use later on and will put them in bold text as I go. Let's start off with the question, "What does it mean to dedicate?" Whether the definition is from my concordance, Google, or just what it means to me; I will point all these definitions back to Christ. Let's start with the definition from my concordance:

To set apart for a special purpose, often for God's use.

When God gives me a word for these series, the first thing I do is look for it in my concordance. When I read this one, I instantly thought, "We, ourselves, are dedicated. We are set apart for a special purpose; we are set apart for God's use." Looking at the underlined word above, you could fill in that blank with words like chosen or predestined. I had never seen dedication in that light before now! Here comes another definition:

Devote (time or effort) to a particular task or purpose.

This one comes from Google and has always been the way I define our word.

Here are some more ways that I could define dedicate:

• The act of dedicating or the state of being dedicated.

• A strong feeling of loyalty to God.

• To lay down our own priorities and desires to be dedicated to God's will and His plan for our lives.

That last one there sounds a lot like surrender and submission to me, so let's define those too. Surrender: the action of surrendering to an opponent or powerful influence. Submission: the action of accepting or yielding to a superior force, to the will or authority of another person (a.k.a. the true superior force - God). If you guys read my Submission Series, this definition just might remind you of words like obedience and humbleness.

Did I mention our word has layers? And it doesn't end there! You can also define dedication as a character trait, a skill, or an emotion. Wow! Also, there are other words that resemble our one-word, devote/devoting/devotion and commit/committed. Dedication is also one of the 3 Ds of success, along with determination and discipline.

I think that is a good place to stop for today. In the next few upcoming blogs we will go over the signs of a dedicated person, why is it important to dedicate, and what it is we should dedicate to God. Then, the Biblical hunt for our key words will commence. Looking ahead, this series will definitely last longer than our previous one-word series.

I hope you guys are enjoying this so far and I hope you grasp some joy in today.