Surrender
Surrender is defined as
‘to give up or hand over’. We must do just that with our lives towards God.
Whether you have been saved for six years or one week, our walks with Christ
demand a constant level of surrender to the will of God; the standard that He
sets and the lifestyle He commands from us.
1 Peter talks about
humbling ourselves under the mighty power of God, allowing Him to completely consume
us and use us for His glory as He sees fit. This however is so much easier said
than done. For some of us, our natural instinct is to reign over every
situation and control our lives the way we see to be most convenient or
pleasurable. However the challenge of living for Christ consists of submitting
every weight to God that besets us from running and enduring through the race
to eternal life in Him. {Hebrews 12:1} God requires us to actively surrender
not just once, but daily. We must be intentional about making the repetitive
decision to be renewed by the Spirit of God rather than our own wicked hearts,
and to consistently allow Him to take lead in our daily lives. When we leave
everything we once knew, we become vulnerable, insecure, and unsure, but our
lives so evidently progress from an uncertain and sinful state into the hands
of an unshakable King.
Luke 9:23-24 reads - Then he
said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from
your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang
on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake,
you will save it.
Here Jesus is
discussing the cost of discipleship and the standard He has set for the
requirements of those who choose to follow Him. When we first receive Christ we
must lay our lives down at the foot of the cross and come to a place of repentance,
but it seems as though many of us struggle with allowing God to bring us to
this same state daily after our first encounter of acceptance, confession and repentance.
Jesus Himself mentions turning away from our ‘selfish ways’. These are the
things that make us feel good, the things that glorify ourselves and push the
attention away from God alone. He even has the knowledge that many of those
that claim to desire to follow His ways, will attempt to ‘hang’ onto their life.
You say you want to live for God and that you’ve given your heart to the Lord,
but habitually still attempt to snatch the surrendered parts of you back again
from the hands of God.
Maybe in your case
you HAVE surrendered parts of your life to the Lord. But that’s the problem
right there. Parts. You will never be
made completely whole in Christ Jesus as long as you intentionally cling to
your life, all in the name of either shame or pride. Maybe there’s something
from your past that constantly bugs you and is trying to push you way from God?
Or maybe it’s the fact that you are so engulfed with the pleasures of this
world that you grapple with letting go of everything you once loved to indulge
in? Either way, God requires full surrender, not bits and pieces. We cannot
just surrender the parts of us that we feel comfortable with God handling us
about, for we know that God is an omniscient Father who see's our hearts and intentions. Hebrews 4:13 – {Nothing in
all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare
before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.}
I want to cover FOUR
types of surrender that we may be confronted by as young believers:
·
Surrendering our will and desires – Many of us
have huge dreams, ambitions and career goals that we wish to obtain at a
certain point in our lives. Although we are encouraged to aim high and believe
God for what man deems as impossible, we must be mindful of acknowledging God
in all our ways.{Proverbs 3:6} With such big decisions, we must be deliberately
seeking the will of God and be praying for His will to come into fruition in His perfect timing.
· Surrendering our emotions – I often battle with
being led by my own emotions and thoughts, and can struggle with presenting to
the Lord before acting upon them. The word of God speaks on taking EVERY thought
captive and making it submit unto Christ. We must discipline ourselves in
taking hold of negative emotions that can so easily sway our mind-sets and actions,
and running STRAIGHT to God when we feel weak or weary.
·
Surrendering our bodies – Romans 12:1 states ‘’I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service.’’ The word of God instructs us to give our bodies to the Lord for we
do not have ownership over them anyway. We were made to be a pure and holy demonstration
of God’s glory, so let us constantly remind ourselves of the importance of
running from sexual desires (outside of marriage) that so easily cause us to
fall into sexual immorality.
·
Surrendering our hearts – the biggest form of
surrender and in many ways the hardest for a number of believers. When we lay
bare before God, His power is able to do such as mighty work within our hearts.
When we lay every burden and character flaw at the throne of God, and plea to
be a more visible reflection of His goodness, God begins to create a clean
heart within us that is pleasing to Him.
We surrender to submit. We must choose to
give up everything we are comfortable with, everything that makes our lives convenient
and ask God for the strength to cleave to His righteous ways. Through
surrendering every part of our lives to our Father, we go from consuming ourselves
in sin, condemnation and impurity, to selfless living, holiness and utter
dependency on Jesus Christ alone.
So be encouraged, that despite the struggle
to combat our own selfishness, God is in constant pursuit of our hearts. He is
waiting for the moment that YOU choose to surrender everything that is holding
you back from building the intimate and personal relationship that He longs for
you to seek. Eternity with Jesus is
worth it all. Everything that you will ever have to give up will be restored
with the plans that God has for you. Trust His ways over yours.
Email - kingdomambassadors@hotmail.com
Twitter - @_caitlinnunez
Instagram - @caitlinnunez
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