“How do I surrender myself to God?”
"Just doing some random wondering... but in the process of "accepting" Christ, you must believe you are sinful, repent... all that stuff.. but one of the final steps is giving your life to God... how does that work and to what extent must your life be "given" to him?"
I consulted a friend of mine who has taken several years of deep searching and transformation before committing (i.e. surrendering) his life to God. Here are our collective thoughts on “how to” surrender (or give) our lives to God. From our understanding of God’s character in Scripture, we recognize that our purpose (as His children) is to bring glory to Him in every single aspect of our lives.
We presume that we each understand, acknowledge and believe that we are sinners; and deserve fair punishment. However, out of God’s faithful grace and mercy, we have been offered hope in salvation! As we continue to give our lives to God, we need to acknowledge our sin, humble ourselves, ask for God’s forgiveness, and work towards ongoing repentance. The many steps in the process of truly “accepting” Christ is not simply accepting Him for who He is (for “Even the demons believe that…” James 2:19); but it also requires that we be transformed to be more and more Christ-like because of who He is and what He has done. Let us discuss this topic of surrender and acceptance in two categories: surrender as submission and surrender as an act of praise. These “forms” of surrender to God are not separate; they are (essentially) the same and should be thought of as such.
Surrender as Submission
Surrender is often viewed as a relinquishment (abandon) of one’s own will and a submission of their heart, thoughts, and deeds to the desire of another. This is no different as we discuss our surrender of our lives to God.
In 2 Samuel 10, Israel is in battle against the Syrians and Ammonites. David’s army needs to split to deal with both forces; therefore, Joab sets himself up against the Syrians while Abishai sets up against the Ammonites. Their plan is to help each other as the need arises, but verse 12 commits the battle to God.
“…and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
Despite all the things running through our minds of what we think we know, the effort we put into accomplishing certain tasks, the sleep we lose, the contingency plans we put into place; we know that we are infinitely inadequate and full of sin. In our surrender to God, we must acknowledge that He is sovereign and full of love. Joab’s example is a great example of the surrender we must have despite the labour we undertake in order to make certain things happen. We must maintain the attitude that God may have plans that are drastically different than what we had envisioned. Think of Daniel’s friends’ response to Nebuchadnezzar when they refused to bow to his idol.
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)
Even at the threat of being burned alive in a raging furnace, these friends did not waver from their faith. Their refusal to bow to the idol stemmed from their complete surrender to the sovereign will of God. They knew that, regardless of the outcome, their lives were not their own and that God would be glorified.
The call for us to forfeit our lives is real and serious. In Luke 14:26, Jesus gives us this ultimatum, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” The submission of every facet of our being is required in order to follow Christ. God must be first and everything in our lives.
First, a little from Pastor John Piper at www.desiringgod.org :
“Can we give anything to Christ? When the psalmist cried out, "What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits to me?" the reply was, "I will lift the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalm 116:12-13). So, translating that into Christmas: Jesus gives us the gift of himself and we ask, "Now what can I render [submit] to Jesus for all the benefits of his fellowship?" Answer: Ask him for his help. That's the gift he wants. The reason Christ wants this is because he always wants to get the glory while we get the benefit. Glory comes to him when we depend on him rather than try to enrich him. If we come to him with gifts—as though he needed something—then we put him in the position of a needy person, and we're the benefactors. He always wants to be [and is] the one who is infinitely self-sufficient. Therefore the only gifts that we can bring Jesus are gifts of praise, thanks, longing, and neediness. A fountain is not glorified by us hauling buckets of dirty water up the mountain and pouring them in. A fountain—a spring in a mountain—is glorified, rather, by us lying down at the edge of the stream, putting our face in, drinking our fill, and getting up and saying, "Ah!" That's called worship. Then we take a bucket, dip it in, walk down the hill to the people in the valley who don't know that the spring exists, and we say, "Taste this! It's right up there, and his name is Jesus!" The kind of gift that the fountain wants is drinkers, because then he looks truly overflowing, rich, and self-sufficient. And that's exactly what he wants to look like.”
As we seek to surrender our lives to God, we undertake a lifetime journey of sanctification. Practically speaking, this involves denouncing ones sins, reading the Bible, increasing time spent in prayer, getting involved at church, etc. Essentially, this includes doing all that God intends and commands of us through His Word. However, these are actions – tangible things. It is important to correctly understand what God wants from us and remember that there is nothing He doesn’t already have completely. In short, God wants the glory, honour, and praise from anything and (potentially) everything that we are and that we do. He wants to be glorified.
At the root of what God really wants is a desire for us to glorify Him – to seek His help and guidance for everything! As a result of Christ being glorified, we receive the benefits of his glory – which are innumerable and amazing. Through that, we may end up doing varying things and through all of these things, give him glory, honour, and praise because He is both telling us to do this, and helping us to do this.
[Answered by Gabriel Tsang, Agape Counselor]
