Identity. Humility. Surrender.

Loren Cunningham wrote: “Jesus gave up everything. For what? First of all, to reconcile ourselves with God… but there is another reason: to teach us how to live and how to defeat the devil. ”*

My first idea for the title of this post was: "love yourself", but the truth is that thinking it over better, I chose these three words because they most describe the life of Christ. Loren wrote that book with the idea of ​​challenging our generation to live in a radical way when serving in missions. But I want to expand that vision a little more, or in some way, extend and unfold it.

Surrendering your life to Christ can be very challenging and may even seem impossible to do, so I took a step back, thinking about this question: what molds the will of someone convincing them to surrender something in their life?

In Matthew 20 Jesus tells this parable about the workers in a vineyard, how the owner hired many at all hours of the day. If you read carefully, you will realize that those who were hired earlier were given a clear deal, but as the day went by, the owner only told the following workers that "they would receive what is fair." At the end in verses 14 and 15 the owner confronts those who arrived early because they thought they “deserved” more than what was previously agreed upon.

At first glance, the parable has nothing to do with surrender, but this is the reality: we live in a world that never tires of claiming its rights, seeking well-being and satisfaction in every sense and area of ​​life. But according to the Bible (all throughout Proverbs), claiming your rights can produce a prideful heart - causing you to hold yourself in higher esteem and believe something is owed to you.

Isn't it sad to see that our world is fighting for something that Jesus has already won and that is available to everyone? At least in the Western world, society keeps claiming every right that crosses their mind. Don't get me wrong, we know that injustice exists and is cruel. My point is: Jesus died so that we ALL have identity, fulfillment, wholeness, and salvation… Our world is looking in the wrong places via distorted strategies. Its approach is mediocre, without identity, full of pride ...

Hence, as Christians, as those of us who decide to accept the gift that Jesus has to give, we have access to a life of intimacy with God, of reconciliation with him but also with ourselves; we have access to live fully, in integrity and “in humility”.

Humility is born after receiving the undeserved gift that we most need, when we know that God gives us what we could never achieve. This is transformation: when you are in the perfect place to surrender your rights, because in reality you come to the conclusion that nothing is yours, that everything you have, and you do are of God and for him. Arriving at this place prevents envy or jealousy from growing in your heart. There will always be someone who has more than you, but also less ... The point is not who has more or less, the heart of the Father is to give everyone exactly what they need.

Prov. 22: 4 says, The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honor, and life.

Wow, when you see this promise and live in it, full of identity, growing in humility and surrendering your rights, your reward is literally everything the world seeks but never finds. Do you need another guarantee? No you don’t, you need Jesus as much as I do. The prize, the most important, the essential, is Jesus.

*DARING TO LIVE ON THE EDGE. The Adventure of Faith and Finances by Loren Cunningham. YWAM Publishing.