Jesus said, “You
cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:33
NLT). Jesus wants you to surrender to
His ownership everything. Why is the decision
to surrender to Jesus so incredibly important?
Here’s why: The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to
strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles
16:9 NLT). God will “strengthen your
heart.”
Giving up ownership leads us to live lives of integrity. Integrity means you’re the same person in
your private life as you are in your public life. You’re the same person when you’re alone as
you are when you’re at church. What you
have committed to the Lord in your heart you commit to with your actions and
words.
Why would you or I not be a person of integrity? Because of fear. When fear is in your heart it influences your
motives and actions. You say one thing
and then do another. And you’re not true
to those around you, or to yourself, or to God until you deal with the fear in
your heart. Fear is the root cause of
many things: anger, depression, control
issues, worry. We’re afraid of
rejection, abandonment, not being loved, what others think about us, tomorrow,
financial loss, not having enough for retirement, of not being accepted, and
the list goes on.
When we don’t deal with the fear in our hearts we will do
two things: 1) First we hide. We wear masks. We put on a front. We don’t let others know who we really
are. And who you are when you’re alone
doesn’t match who you are when you’re around other people. 2) Second we look for ways to get love. We have trouble loving ourselves and loving
others and loving God.
Without knowing it you’re trying to compensate for an
emotional wound deep down in the core of your being. The answer
is to not only place your trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and
salvation, but to grow to believe more and more in God’s love for you and in
who you really are in Christ and all that is yours in that relationship with
Him. It takes the Heavenly Father’s love
to heal your heart. God tells us in His
Word that His love “expels all fear” from our hearts, and There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to
separate us from the love of God, (Romans 8:39 GNT). Therefore, Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should
be called God’s children (1 John 3:1 HCSB).
He is present with us so that we don’t have to be
fearful. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and
cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by
the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!” (Romans
8:15 GNT).
Specifically what can you do in light of God’s truth?
1.
Cry out to God as your Father Who loves you
perfectly, more so than your earthly father.
2.
Choose to continually thank God that nothing
will ever be able to separate you from His love.
3.
Think long and deep about God’s great love for
you.
4.
Practice “resting” in God’s love for you. Just say, “Father I choose to rest in your
great love for me.”
5.
Accept His forgiveness of you and choose to
forgive those who’ve wronged you.
Let God love you and transform your life such that you’re
the same person inside and out.
We’ve got to give up trying to fix ourselves, control our
own lives, and medicate our pain. We
must give up the ownership of our lives to God.
He wants your honest total surrender, and then He’ll produce the right
things in your life. That’s when your
heart will grow in His love for you, in His strength, with courage, and with
inner security.
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