Surrender Part 1 of 5

SURRENDER
Vineyard Church NW - Jody Burgin


SURRENDER vs. Self-reliance
Yielding to the authority, direction, and gracious care of God

The need to surrender to God's will is a central theme in Scripture. Abraham obeyed God's call to migrate to a foreign land. Moses yielded himself to God and led the Israelites to freedom, out of their Egyptian bondage. Jesus, when agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).

"I will…"
daily acknowledge to God that I need his power and direction.
consult God and his Word before making important decisions.
recognize and confess my stubborn self-will.
offer my life as a living sacrifice to God in attitude and actions.
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

To love means to commit oneself without guarantees, to give oneself completely in the hope that the love given will live in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.

Our intimacy with God is in direct proportion to the faith we place in God. The risk of surrender, “to give oneself completely,” is the core of spiritual health and hope. The more we trust, the more we risk and the more we love. The more we love, the more that love bears fruit. There are no guarantees in the risky business of loving others, but love is never wasted. The apostle Paul describes a love that “does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:5-7). Such love comes from the risk we take when we surrender.
Dear lover of my soul, teach me to love deeper, better and freer.