By Guest Columnist Spencer Sullivan, Pastor, Pelahatchie Baptist
My family is incredibly competitive. My wife, Melanie, and I both played sports competitively in our younger years and that is certainly a major factor. We started dating in high school and some of our first dates were just meeting up to play one on one basketball (her sport). We still compete, but less on the court. Now we play a certain game on our phones and we keep a running score that goes all the way back to 2019. I won’t put the overall score in print for the sake of our marriage, but I’ll tell you that the difference so far in this year’s score is only one. We both hate to lose perhaps more than we enjoy winning. Surrender is not in our natural DNA. Whether it came through our DNA or just from growing up in our family, our kids are very much the same. When we play games, whether it’s basketball or Battleship, we all play to win. No surrender.
Whether competitive is an adjective that describes you or not, no one has surrender in their natural DNA. In any context, what comes out of our natural DNA is not to surrender, but to be #1. Understanding that is universally true, Jesus calls us to something different. He said: “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Jesus calls us to something that is counter to what comes natural. Jesus calls us to surrender. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and take up our cross. What does He mean? If you know anything about Jesus, you know that His cross caused Him great suffering and ultimately cost Him His life. He willingly did that for us so that we could be forgiven of our sin and live eternally with Him. So, when He calls us to take up our cross, the implication is that it will be difficult and even painful at times.Ultimately, He means we are to deny our selfish tendencies and submit to His rule and reign over every area of our lives. But, the Bible also tells us that there is freedom to be had in that surrender. Galatians 5:1 says: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” That sounds backwards, right? In our natural way of thinking, we might think surrender = slavery. Yet, Jesus calls us to a surrender that equals freedom! Left to ourselves, we are slaves to sin. Surrendered to Jesus, we are free from the chains, the traps, and the snares that this world entangles us with.
There is another key word from Jesus’ call to surrender. He said: “…let him deny himself and take up his cross daily…” This implies that surrendering once is not enough. Yes, when we repent of our sin and trust Jesus to save us, our salvation is secure. The Bible tells us we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Our salvation is secure in His hands (John 10:28). But, if we want to walk in freedom in this world, surrendering once is not enough. Jesus calls us to a daily surrender. That means we are to consciously surrender everything to His authority on a daily basis. Jesus, I surrender my will, I surrender my family, I surrender my marriage, I surrender my work, I surrender my finances, I surrender my wants and desires and dreams. I surrender my relationships. I surrender my health. I surrender my struggles. I surrender my (fill in the blank). I surrender it all to You, because you are my King! In Jesus’ economy, surrender = freedom. Be free from what binds you today and surrender it all to Jesus! Then, do it all over again tomorrow.
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