“Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.” (Big Book page 59)
When we give our will and our life over to the care of God, we invite Him to develop those qualities in us that will help us love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbour as ourselves. For that to take place, we need to surrender to God’s ways as recorded in the Bible. There is no such thing as half-hearted surrender. We are either surrendered to God’s ways or we are not.
As we study God’s word, we will learn what is right or wrong, harmful or good, and we can adjust our thoughts and behaviour accordingly. It may take time to make the changes we need to make but, as we determine to follow God’s ways, with God’s help, we will succeed. We need to be prepared to battle against our old self and its ways of saying and doing things, so that the new self triumphs over the old. Perseverance may not have been a quality we exhibited in our past but, as we determine to be faithful to God’s ways, He will give us the strength we need to be wholehearted.
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. (Romans 6:6-7 NIV)
As we obey God’s will, our hearts are being renewed and God’s Holy Spirit enables us to change from being half-hearted in what we do, to being fully surrendered to God. This gracious gift is available to all who believe in the finished work of Jesus. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:22 NLT)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Forgive me for not surrendering all that I am to You. Help me to persevere in times of trial and determine to follow You in all my affairs. Amen
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