Believing is where we must start, continue to grow and become the most strong in. When we believe Christ is our savior and that He came from God, we know that there is a power strong enough to do anything. Knowing is one thing, but believing is something entirely different. Knowing requires logic, but believing is absent of logic. It is in belief that we can feel love like never before. Love is what will transcend belief and take all the burdens of this world off of us. It is through the belief of God’s love for us that we know Christ’s sacrifice. Being continually aware of His sacrifice is how we must start, continue and grow in our strengths for all our actions.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.
1 John 5:1-3 NIV
Surrender is the key to all things worth having. Healing, living without pain, finding ease in all we do all comes from surrendering. Surrender is only possible when we recognize that we must sacrifice what we think we know. When we give up all we have to draw nearer to God, we can rest in comfort that God will provide. There is nothing on earth that He isn’t the source of and thus the one that gave it to us in the first place. It is on us to become aware of this fact and allow that knowledge to overwhelm our lives. Laying our life down is the only way we can truly pick it up. This is how we move forward and accomplish all the plans He has for us. Sacrifice and surrender are our best allies for looking ahead.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Mark 10:29-31 NIV
Considerations for your planner:
- Do you find God’s commands to be a burden? Write down how you feel God loves you.
- Write down what surrendering means to you. When you look at surrender through the lens of love does it seem possible?
A Story of Belief through Sacrifice:
As an adult I have not had any sort of consistent relationship with my parents. I remember being incredibly sad and angry about it for many years. I just wanted my parents to be my parents. It wasn’t possible for them to be what I wanted or expected. I realized I had to let them and the idea of them go.
It was not an easy decision, but it was necessary to allow my life to grow and flourish. In order to let go of the expectations I had of them I had to let go of any small thing I held on to out of fear of not having them in my life. I had to put all my dependence on God. This kind of surrender and sacrifice tested my resolve for so much.
Years have passed without my parents in my life. Although I still have hope for their presence in my life, I am no longer ruled by sadness or anger over what they are in my life. My expectations do not overwhelm me or lend to my belief for how I am loved. My self worth has grown and the love I have for them has increased. With this increase of love I have so much more grace for how they choose to be or not be a part of my life.
- Anonymous
Strengthen the Christian Planner Family by sharing your experiences. We'd love to hear a story about God's work in your life. Use the form linked below to submit your story.
