When you have surrendered something in the past, who was it about? Think about it honestly. Did you buy or give up something for the benefit of yourself or someone else? Let me give you an example. Those clothes that have been sitting around in your closet for five years (I have them too, it's okay), did you think about donating those to a shelter where those people do not have clothes because you knew that it would keep them warm or show them who God really was? Or did you give them those clothes so you can make room to buy more? Writing that out right now, I never thought about it. I guess I need to go through my stuff and truly think about why I would be getting rid of it. Sure it would make my place a lot neater and the clutter would be gone, but would I replace those empty spaces with something else I don't need or could I live without things for a while in order to benefit those around me? It's amazing when we "surrender" something and then we start to think why we do it, how often it really is about us.
Leslie mentions that when we give something up or surrender something then we should NEVER expect anything back. I know of people (once again, I'm guilty of this) who have surrendered their job or certain areas of their life expecting God to return the rewards in a matter of days. We are a "right now" society and so if something is not returned to us in our timing, we think that God is either not listening, not giving to us, or He doesn't care. All of these are not true. I am giving up my life of being with someone for the sake of being able to serve God better until He tells me otherwise. This is something huge for me but if I go and "give up" marriage and expect for my earthly prince charming to walk through my front door and sweep me off my fee tomorrow, I'm sadly mistaken. It will happen when God wants it to happen. Another thing that Leslie states is that the majority of the time, God does answer the desires of our hearts when we choose to follow Him without anything in return. If we EXPECT things to happen, we are just disappointed because we do not know what is best for us. God knows what we need and if it is to be single the rest of my life or to not have that multimillion dollar deal, then so be it. It was not meant for me. Instead, I would rather have that love only meant for Him with no expectations. In other words, God wants us to have unconditional love. GASP!! He does?! Of course, He wants us to be able to love Him and those around us the way that He loves us. It's never easy but it's so worth the surrender and lack of expectations. Are you able to love unconditionally or do you have some strings you need to cut?
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