THE NEED FOR SURRENDER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
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Come, follow Me. – Matthew 4:19
What is surrender? Surrender is the yielding of our whole selves to our Creator, holding nothing back. It is perhaps the most formidable part of the Christian life. It runs counter to all that our natural selves desire… autonomy, self-preservation, control. Yet it is what Jesus asks of us. It is necessary for following Him.
The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self — all your wishes, and precautions — to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is remain what we call ‘ourselves’, to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be ‘good’. – C.S. Lewis* (Mere Christianity, p. 197)
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? – Matthew 16:26
Do we want the world or do we want Christ? We cannot have both. To try is a difficult and challenging balancing act that eventually results in failure. When we are swayed by society’s beliefs and worldly temptations, we are not following Jesus. We are chasing a superficial, temporal happiness instead of seeking the Lover of our souls.
We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way — centered on money or pleasure or ambition — and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is what Christ warned us you could not do. (p.198)
For apart from Me you can do nothing. – John 15:5
Why do we need to surrender? Without complete surrender to Jesus, there can be little transformation in our lives. Our attempts to be good, moral, humble, holy in our own power will not prevail in the long run. When troubles come our way, our natural selves will rise up and take control. Our best falls far short of Christ’s perfection.
Our real selves are all waiting for us in Him (Christ). It is no good trying to ‘be myself’ without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. (p. 225)
No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. – John 3:3
How do we surrender? Jesus shares that we need to be born again… to die to our old selves so that we can live forever in Him. We allow Him to give us of Himself… His thoughts, His ways, His Spirit. Surrender is not giving up… it is giving in to the One who knows us intimately, yet loves us without measure. It is gaining a new life, a new power, a new joy.
As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and resown. (p. 198)
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it. – Matthew 16:25
Surrendering gives up self to become like Christ. Whatever we hold fast in this life will be lost. That which we relinquish to Him will be found for all eternity. In abandoning our all to the transformative power of Christ, He imparts to us bit by bit His divine nature… molding us into His likeness. As we yield our self-seeking lives to Him, we discover His self-sacrificing life of abundance.
Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. (p. 226)
Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. – Luke 9:23
Is surrender a one-time act? Surrender is a choice to be made daily … a choice to silence the world’s encroachment on our minds and listen to the still, small voice of Jesus whispering His love and His amazing plans for us. A choice to abandon our desires and dreams to embrace His. For He is the only One we dare trust with our lives.
That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind. (p. 198)
I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. – John 5:30
Jesus sought not His own will but that of the Father. It is not our will that is to reign in us but Christ’s. We learn to surrender to His perfect will and purpose for our lives. On our quest for Christlikeness, we come to know Him more deeply… to align our ways with His… to unite with Him in mind, soul and spirit.
We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. (p. 198)
Abide in Me, and I in you. – John 15:4
Surrendering to Christ is a commitment for eternity… a journey requiring perseverance and faithfulness. Abiding in Jesus, we become the best we can be… the cherished treasure He always had in mind for us to become. As we allow Him to fashion us into His image, we become an ever closer reflection of Him.
If we let Him — for we can prevent Him, if we choose — He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a…dazzling, radiant, immortal creature… with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine. (p. 205)
† Eternal Takeaway – By surrendering all to Christ, you become who He created you to be †
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*C.S. Lewis, British author, professor and lay theologian, was one of the most influential Christian writers of the 20th century. His spiritual journey from atheism to Christ resulted in great depth and insight in His writings. He became a leading apologist, writing the famous book, Mere Christianity, as a defense of Christian beliefs.
