Surrender vs Commitment
I've been reading a book called "Surrender: The Heart God Controls" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. God has really been opening my eyes, mind and heart with some of the things in this book. One of those things is the difference between Surrender and Commitment.She mentions in the book a Romanian pastor immigrant, Josef Tson, who studied the historical development of American evangelicalism. He noted several paradigm shifts that had weakened the spiritual standing of Christianity in America. One of these took place in the 1950's and 60's. It was the "shift from the call to full surrender, to the call to commitment."
I won't go into the full explanation here (though I highly recommend you reading this book for yourself) but here is the main gist:
When you surrender, your life no longer belongs to yourself. You have placed your life at the mercy of another. When you make a commitment, you still belong to yourself and it is up to you as to whether or not you live up to that commitment.
That little nugget blew me away. I realized that I have been living a life of commitment. I have committed to being a better husband, a better father, a good employee, even a good Christian. But, I have to ask myself, have I ever surrendered myself to Christ to be all that He wants me to be...without regards to my own desires?
The answer is a heart-wrenching "no". But knowing this doesn't change it. Wanting to change it doesn't change it. I'm learning that it takes a daily...even moment by moment...surrender to change this.
I'm slowly learning this lesson. I'm 37, stubborn, rebellious and selfish. But in the awesome miracle called "sanctification" I'm taking this opportunity to become more like Christ as I take steps and learn to lay down my rights and surrender daily to Christ.
One step at a time.
Labels: commitment, sanctification, surrender
posted by David @ 8:01 AM
2 Comments:
The amazing thing, David, about sanctificatin is that God does it at all. None of us deserve any of this. But as we surrender to Him, allowing Him access to all the hidden places in our lives, He will purify us and set us apart for His work and for His glory.
Someone once said that it is a shame to anyone who calls themselvers a Christian, if they find themselves the same person now as they did this time last year. We are to grow in Christ - become more sacntified - as we surrender ourselves to Him more and more.
Great post.
Brandt Dodson
Brandt,
Thanks so much for your reply. I am so thankful that He is the one that purifies us. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. Praise God we can live in Christ's righteousness when we turn from our sin and to our gracious Heavenly Father.
Blessing brother.
David
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