Surrender or Self-Denial?

There are many words today that have fallen into what many believers affectionately call, "Christianese." A lot of people know them, but the terms lose their true meaning, or can create confusion in what actually is in the Bible.

One word that we hear so often is surrender--what does it actually mean? Where is it in the Bible? How do we know if we surrendered to God?

At its base form, to surrender to God isn’t actually a term used in the Bible, the concept actually falls more in line with denying yourself, and stepping into a different heart posture of love, submission, and humility before the Lord. Sometimes it's our plans, desires in our hearts, or a number of other things. Surrender is often marked with sacrifice.

Surrender is not just an act of "letting go." If it was simply letting something go, anyone would do it.

It's not so much about what you release to the Lord, but how you release it. That sounds simple on the surface, but surrendering to the Lord in all aspects of our lives is a process that He takes us through as we are continually refined by Him. To deny oneself and sacrifice for the Kingdom is costly.

The Bible has many moments that show a profound self-denial and humble submission to the Lord, but one that sits deeply in our hearts and convicted us this week is in the beginning Luke 21:

"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

We are aware that this passage is often focused on in regard to giving, but we want to take a moment and strip back that layer--back in this time period, widows often had it rough, and were very vulnerable. Without families to care for them, they were left in situations that could easily become dire. This widow's contribution was roughly 1% of a day's wages--and no one would have blamed her if she'd kept one of those coins for herself.

Yet, it was two coins that landed in the offering box.

Her surrender was costly.

Jesus saw how priceless it was.

The posture of this woman's heart is painted in the sacrifice she made: It was highly likely that she didn't know where her next meal would be, or where she'd lay her head that night... and yet, in humility, she denied herself and surrendered all she had before the Lord. The widow's heart showed a devotion and submission to God because it held action.

How many of us, in today's day and age, have stood in a position where God has asked us to deny ourselves and instead chose our own desires? Our own plans over His kingdom? Our comfort over His calling?

The idea of surrendering to the Lord is used in such a blase and common tone and misses the Father's heart entirely. To deny ourselves and pick up our crosses to follow Jesus is costly.

Just as the rich gave out of abundance, the "surrender," of some believers in the modern church is out of the same prideful heart posture--just enough to appear holy, but lacking in fruit and doesn't truly cost them.

The truth of the matter is--a true act of surrender to the Lord will often come with grief as we release what we think aspects of our life should look like, pick up our crosses and then follow that surrender with action. The joy of surrender is the freedom that comes with it, and the deepening of our relationship with the Lord when we do, along with the change in our own hearts as we choose to walk in step with the Holy Spirit.

We want to encourage you, friend--as you surrender and grow, to not step into condemnation but instead be able to follow the Lord without being held back by anything that would keep you from wholeness with Him.

Challenge Questions:

Where does your heart land when it comes to surrendering to God?

If you stood before Jesus today, what level of surrender would He see in your life? How do you think He'd respond?

If you know that you are being called into a deeper surrender, what is the next action step that you need to take?