devote oneself to

McBath, Raskin’s friend and his colleague on the House Judiciary Committee, knows the horror of losing a child; she knows the urge to devote oneself to public service as a way to forge meaning from that loss; she knows how consuming the work of serving as a member of Congress can be.

Is that too young to devote oneself to elite sport, and the mental and physical strains that come with it, asks Kristen Doerer.

From then on “Marvin’s Room” concerns itself with the deeper questions of caretaking: Is it selfless or — as Hank, Lee’s troubled 17-year-old, maintains — just another kind of selfishness to devote oneself to others?

To read a book is to devote oneself to the book.

To add even more specificity, the contestants’ loved ones stalk the sidelines, sometimes with signs, sometimes with advice, always animatedly cheering: It would be hard to devote oneself to becoming an American Ninja Warrior without the enthusiastic support of the loved ones who will never see said Warrior, because he is spending all his time preparing for the Salmon Run.