The word “surrender” is defined as to yield, give up or over, submit, abandon, relinquish, cede, waive, or capitulate. In some translations, the word “surrender” is not found, but the concepts of “yielding” (Romans 6:16-19) or submitting (James 4:7) are used instead.
In order to surrender your heart, body, and soul to God, one must be willing to yield to the sovereign claim of a righteous God. What is that claim? We need to understand that man is separated from a Holy God by sin, and there must be reconciliation. The good news is that God has made a provision for man to be reconciled to Himself, and that provision is found in the once-for-all sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
In the Bible, the words heart and soul are often used interchangeably. The heart is that area of the human conscience that is the seat of our emotions, our thought processes, our values, and the place that we draw our method of operation (Matthew 12:34-35).
The soul is the eternal entity of man that gives us the capacity to communicate with God. For the natural man, that is the man who has not accepted Christ as Savior, the soul is present, but the communication between that soul and God is turned off or separated. It is called being “dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1). It is like having a radio that is not turned on. From a natural man, the only communication that God recognizes is the prayer for redemption and reconciliation in Christ Jesus. However, when we accept Christ as our Savior and are born again, we are made alive unto God, and we are able to then communicate with Him because our soul is no longer separated.
To surrender heart, body, and soul to God, one must understand that as humans, we are triune beings. We are made up of our heart/mind, body, and soul. Yielding one part of ourselves without yielding the other is impossible. If we try to separate ourselves, we become “double-minded” and, therefore, unstable (James 1:8). However, the initial surrender is only the beginning. The surrender of your heart, body, and soul to God is an ongoing process that begins the moment one is born again as a child of God, and it continues until He calls the believer home or Jesus comes again. The process is one of growth in grace and knowledge, and that comes from studying the Word of God and choosing to apply divine viewpoint to life on a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment basis.
The eternal soul of man has one of two conditions. The first is eternally separated from God. If that condition is not remedied during life here on earth by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior (John 14:6), that soul is separated from God for eternity with no remedy. The other condition is that of a born-again soul. That person will have fellowship and communication with God through the Lord Jesus Christ during this life and will then enjoy His presence for eternity. Therefore to surrender your heart, body, and soul to God, accept the LORD Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and LORD.
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Practical ways to dwell in God’s presence as a believer.
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Stories About Mama
Embracing Her Legacy, Honoring Her Life
Contributing author: Stories About Mama is a compilation of narratives from ten authors whose mothers were born within a 30-year span (1924 – 1954), smack dab in the middle of the Jim Crow era (1896-1954) a time when many African Americans, women included, were sharecroppers.
Far too many Black women have never purposely engaged in healing; seeking to understand our mothers in full context of the time and seasons of life. This book is about the healing of Black women from the wounds we have regarding our mothers. To provide a gracious space to look beyond the pain and the shame of their mother’s stories and honor her by seeing her through the lens of grace and glory.
