Greater Surrender

The path to the life of righteousness – of proper character and proper service to Jesus – is not found by working harder at getting things right. It is found by greater surrender of our desires, our intentions, our possessions, and our actions to the Living God. Losing our lives in surrender to Him opens our access to Life in ways that are astonishing.

I need to frequently assess my level of surrender to Him in various aspects of my life: relationships, possessions, fears, securities, and abilities. When my comfort can be seen to be in these things rather than in my surrender of these things to Him, I am in danger.

Do you not know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. And what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:16-23 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®)