The Power of Surrender
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
(Romans 12:1–2; Ephesians 4:31–32; 4:13; Exodus 14:13; 1 Corinthians 10:31)
RUMINATE
“I need to be so utterly God’s that he can use me or hide me, as he chooses, as an arrow in his hand or in his quiver. I will ask no questions: I relinquish all rights to him who desires my supreme good.” —Helen Roseveare
“Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.” —Oswald Chambers
“Often when we approach the altar to pray our hearts are dry and lukewarm. But if we steadily persist, grace comes suddenly as a flood upon us, our breast grows full of increase, a wave of piety fills our inward heart.” —Bernard of Clairvaux
“The first step in conforming our intellect to God’s truth is to die to our vanity, pride, and craving for respect from colleagues and the public. We must let go of the worldly motivations that drive us, praying to be motivated solely by a genuine desire to submit our minds to God’s Word—and then to use that knowledge in service to others.” —Nancy Pearcey
From Day Twenty-one, Spiritual Exercises, Sacred Margins: On the Spiritual Life of a Writer.
