Dying to Self. Living for Christ.

11/24/23 – 11/30/23

Total Surrender

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  11/26/23

The object of giving our all is to please the Lord. How do I offer my body as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord? I don’t offer it in a temple court like they did in the Old Testament, but I offer it everywhere I go.

Surrender is a total job. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. Surrender is giving God all that you have. Surrender that is pleasing to God is not partial; it is not tokenism, and it is not just in words. It is a total surrender in the most practical terms.

When we give our all, we will know God’s will and conform to His will. In Romans 12:2, Paul says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Everybody wants to conform; everybody wants to copy others, and the apostle Paul knew that this desire to keep up with the Joneses is done out of fear of being different. This verse is saying: Dare to be different. You don’t have to do something because somebody else does it. The transforming of your mind is going to help you discern. It is going to seep down and strengthen your will.

Do you want to please the Lord, who saved you, who gave you joy in your heart, who gave you purpose and life, or would you rather please yourself and others first?

Prayer: Father, show me if there are areas of my life that I have not completely surrendered to You. Help me to live to please You alone. Thank You for all that You’ve done for me. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).