"Take Hold" Series: Week Three Follow-Up
This last month, we've been talking about "taking hold" of Jesus - giving up our stubbornness and pride in favor of trust and humility. This week, we talked about giving up our selfishness for surrender to God. If we are to take hold of Jesus, we have to be willing to let go of whatever we're holding onto too tightly. Even if it's a good thing, God may ask us to loosen our grip so we can strengthen our grip on Him. Even if it's an important thing, it's possible we've developed an unhealthy relationship with it.
Selfishness VS Surrender
Scriptures tell us that following Jesus is costly (Luke 14:25-35, Philippians 3:12-13). Truly loving and obeying Christ means living with a different set of values and a different mission for your life. In verse 26 of the Luke 14 passage, Jesus says, "If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison...even your own life." So comparing not only how I feel about Jesus, but how I live, my choices, what I spend my time doing, what I live for, what I'm trying to accomplish...compared to how much I love Jesus and am living for him, it should look like I hate those things. That means there should be a significant difference between my relationship with Jesus and everything else.
To live like that requires us to abandon selfishness and surrender our lives to Jesus. But sometimes this is more easily said than done. Even though we say a prayer and do our best to honor God, we have to make choices daily to surrender to Jesus in every area of our lives. There is not always clear instruction on what is necessary to surrender our lives to Christ. It takes continual reflection and the help of the community to find out the ways in which we need to grow and surrender more.
One of the most meaningful moments in my walk with Christ recently has been downgrading my phone from a smartphone to a regular cell with just talk and text. Having access to email and social media on me at all times kept me distracted by work, ministry, and Facebook. During a quiet time with God, I realized that although these things were convenient they were distracting me from being fully present with Jesus, my friends, and my fiancee. The decision came down between convenience and relational wholeness and health. When framed that way, it was an easy decision! That said, surrendering doesn't always mean giving up possessions completely. Another friend made a habit of praying, "I need you, Jesus" every time they hit the home button on their smart phone. Whether it is a clear display of obedience or a consistent habit of humility, it is simply important that we act in surrender to our Lord and Savior.
What will you do to remind yourself throughout each day to surrender to Jesus and live for him? What can you do everyday to remind yourself to take hold of Christ?
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