As new Christian you are going to hear this term a lot. In hymns and scripture and general Christian teaching. So what does it mean? Well, in a nutshell, it means that God wants all of your heart. In Matthew 22:36–40, Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment in the Law?”, and his response was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, the first thing he said was “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:3-5). In other words, he wants us to put nothing before him. In our long list of priorities, God is supposed to come first.

You need to allow Him into every aspect of your life and be willing to surrender everything. You don’t get to pick and choose. You put everything at his feet. You invite Him into it and let Him have His will. Now that can be a scary thought at first. Some parts of our lives are easier to give up than others. Most of us will ask the Lord to come into our lives because we want help in a particular situation or a particular relationship, but we want Him to leave us alone in other areas. Perhaps areas where we are still indulging in sin. The thought of giving up those things or bringing Him into that situation, makes us uncomfortable. We want to say, “Oh no, I don’t need you over there God, I want you over here.”

But that’s not how He works. Yes, he can help you in a situation, but He does His best work with those that are willing to surrender everything. Once you invite Jesus into your life, He is going to begin sanctifying, teaching, convicting, and refining you. He will remove things from your life that are detrimental to you. You should notice some drastic life changes. You should feel like a new person! You should be losing interest in certain things, and gaining interest in others. You should be having some major mindset shifts in things you’ve always believed or never understood. Your beliefs, priorities, and values are going to be challenged. If you are going to be called “one of His”, you are going to need to leave the unclean, sinful, unholy version of you behind, and move into a new, clean, purpose-filled life with God at the center. This is going to allow God to move freely in your life… and this is what you want – whether you know that right now or not. 🙂

By the way if these things have not happened for you, there’s something wrong. You’re probably not giving Him the proper priority in your life. Know that He won’t do anything for you unless you want Him to and you let Him do it. God can’t work with an unwilling subject. Nothing is forced with God, it’s all dependent on what you choose. However, not only do you need to choose Him, but you need to be open to His will and that might mean giving up some things. That doesn’t mean He is going to take everything from you, or that He wants to control you. He just wants to know that you are willing to give it up. You are declaring, and possibly taking some action, to prove to God that you are fully committed to Him and nothing else matters to you, as much as He does. Then, you let Him take away the things that are detrimental to you and destructive in your life. The things that are holding you back from answered prayers, spiritual growth, and closeness with Him that you may not understand yet. It is going to be a little uncomfortable, difficult, and scary at first, but then He will restore what is good, and fulfilling, and rewarding back to you. If you are focused on what He wants for you, then you are focused on transitioning to your best life. Because He wants to keep you safe from evil, and He wants to bless you and keep you. He wants only the best for you.

The surrendered life is so much more fulfilling than the alternative. Sadly, most Christians settle for the alternative. They feel as though they’ve bought their ticket to Heaven because they ‘believe’ and that’s where they stop with God. They think that’s all there is to it. God is up in the sky. I am down here. I believe so therefore I’ve bought my way into Heaven, and I’ll just continue to live my life how I always have. They’ve never felt any different. Don’t know what the Holy Spirit is or what the presence of God feels like. Don’t know that God is living today and can be a major part of their life right now.

I don’t understand it. How can you claim to believe that there is a Supernatural God, who created us, and sent His own son to die for us, who knows our hearts and our thoughts, and has given us instructions to live by, and wants a relationship with us – yet, none of this has prompted you to want to learn more about Him or to be closer to Him? Don’t you have some questions for this Creator? He created you for a purpose, don’t you want to know what that purpose is?

God is real. Hell is real. Judgement is going to happen. This life is not a game. Just read His word. He has told us so. And anyone who isn’t right with Him is going to be tormented for eternity at the end of this short life. None of this has persuaded you to understand what that means? This is a dangerous state to be in.

Sure, you can continue on your own way without all this, and hope to be saved from Hell – by simply believing in Jesus, and living in sin as if you didn’t. But know that this wasn’t God’s intention for you. Will you be confident in your salvation living in this state? Will you be satisfied having never felt the presence of God or really knowing that He is real? How can you expect Him to answer your prayers if you refuse to be obedient to Him and keep His commandments? He said that those who love Him, obey His commandments.

I tried the alternative, and I didn’t enjoy it. I was constantly convicted, constantly wondering if I was even saved, or if God was hearing my prayers – because I just felt so bad about myself all the time. Constantly in fear of judgement. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t have a new mind or a new heart like God says he will give us (Ezekiel 36:26)… But then, I finally just trusted Him and took that leap. I knew what He wanted from me. I didn’t know what was on the other side of that, or if I could even do it… but I tried anyway. I said “ok God, I’ll give it up for You”. And He rewarded that step of faith in a big way and showed me what life could be like without that meaningless thing and with Him.

Friends, you are still holding on to something, that you are putting above Him, then you are not fully surrendered. You might even say this thing has become an idol for you. And He isn’t going to like that. In fact, there may even be a curse attached to it. You can justify it all you want. The only person you’re convincing is yourself. So, if you are feeling a prompting to change or stop doing something, then God is trying to tell you something. Take some advice from someone who was right where you are – JUST DO IT. That thing isn’t anything that you need anyway and it’s holding you back from a miraculously different and better life. You just need to trust Him and He will take care of the rest.

Trust me, whatever you want from this Earthly life means nothing in the perspective of eternity. If you keep your eyes on the things above, such as Heaven, eternal life, communion with the Lord; things of the Spirit – the thrills of this world will become very dim. I’m talking about material things, and sinful pleasures. Of course, there are joys and blessings in this life too that make our life meaningful – but these things were created for us by God! He absolutely wants us to enjoy relationships, family, the beauty of nature, and the pleasures of our physical senses. We just have to be led by God and all these things will be given to us. And finally, if you want to lead a surrendered life you need to avoid sin with every ounce of strength that you have, and with the Lord’s strength as well. Don’t have a casual relationship with sin. More on this to come.

Now complete surrender includes more than just giving up sin. As I mentioned, anything you put on a pedestal above God is on the chopping block. Your career, desires, decisions, goals, relationships, family, money/riches, fame, pride/reputation. By the way, these things are designed to distract you from God. Don’t be fooled! Go to God and give them to God. Tell Him, He can have all of these things and do what He wants with them. Ideally, you won’t really care anymore. You won’t want it unless He blesses it. You will love him so much that you live to please Him. You will only seek His will and His glory. As Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Seek Him above everything else and He will give you everything you need and more.

In Matthew 16:25, Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Now, don’t be discouraged if you’re just not there yet. If you are not ready to put everything on the line, don’t worry. Start with what you can. One thing at a time. Just keep praying and reading your Bible and He will lead you in what to do next.

For those who are ready, typically, it is the one thing you want most in life. The one thing you’re holding most tightly. He wants you to want Him more than that thing. You need to be willing to put it all on the line. Again, ‘surrendering it to God’ doesn’t mean you can’t have these things (provided its not something that contradicts the commandments). It means you are telling God, He comes first, and nothing else matters. Then allow Him to lead you to and through His purpose and plan for you. You will discover that His will is already closely aligned with your deepest goals and desires. All the things that you want and enjoy in life are His to freely give you. He created you with a unique set of natural talents and desires for a reason. Perhaps molded you through experiences to be drawn to a particular cause. This is your calling!

You should be more concerned with your eternal life and your spiritual status than anything you can gain from this world. I promise you are going to enjoy a God-centered life a lot more than anything you can contrive on your own. Usually, left to his own devices, man’s plans end in disaster and heartache. Yet, God’s plan for you is perfect. If you don’t already know the goodness of God, you surely will once you take this leap of faith. Step into your new, surrendered life, and watch how God changes you and the people around you, mends relationships, brings you peace, freedom, and fulfillment. You can’t even imagine all the good things He wants to do for you. Stay faithful, my friends.

Suggested prayers: Father God, teach me how to leave behind my worldly desires and focus on you. Forgive me of my sins and help me to let go of them for good. Help me to let go of my old life and stop looking back. Reveal to me anything that has become an idol in my life. Help me to prioritize my goals and desires to put You first, and keep my attention on You and Your Kingdom. Show me how to walk in Spirit.

Share in the comments how God showed up for you when you surrendered or what you had to leave behind. What became an idol for you? Leave me a like if you enjoy my content. You may also like How to Hear From God. Follow me on Facebook here. Contact me for Christian Counseling here.