“Why should I surrender to God?” is the revolt of the person who advocates such a thought as liberal and modern.
For these individuals, surrender conjures images of defeat—hands raised, a will broken by a stronger force.
A loss of freedom is their clarion call.
The word “surrender” makes them flinch.
This thought reveals the truth that a faithful believer in Christ lives every day knowing that surrender is life’s most joyful act.
Moments in Life: Why Should I Surrender to God
There comes a moment in every human life when our strength and wisdom are no longer enough.
Our plans begin to crumble, and the answers we have desperately searched for remain beyond our reach and understanding.
We work hard, make decisions, protect the people we love, and try to build a secure future.
Yet, despite our best efforts, life reminds us that we cannot control everything.
Illness arrives unexpectedly. Relationships change. Opportunities disappear. Prayers seem unanswered.
And somewhere in the silence, there’s a Job from the Bible within each of us, asking the difficult question
If God loves me, why must I struggle so much?
“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.” (Job 30:20)
So if God has blessed our lives, then why is there pain in our living days?
Well, the same questions and queries are left at the end in the book of Job as some whys and hows that will never be decoded or answered and known to us mortals.
They are the ways of God.
They are beyond human understanding.
Like Job, we only need to trust and hope in God alone.
Why should I surrender to God?
The answer, to begin with, would be that He loves me, and we mortals need the Supreme Divine’s presence in our living days.
Jesus loves us individually; we are precious to Him.
But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. (Matthew 10:30)
Jesus will give us what we require most in our lives.
We humans think of the body and its contentment, but Jesus thinks and works beyond physicalities, for our spirit and soul.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
He sacrificed and died so we could be saved.
We are saved not only for earth but also for the beyond, in eternity.
So it’s more than fixing earthly troubles; it brings us into union with God and grants us eternal life.
Heaven awaits… In living a life with the Creator in eternity.
Surrendering to God is more than a religious idea.
It is a profound way of understanding life itself.
We should not view life merely as a spectrum but through the grandeur of creation.
We need God as our guiding light, our strength in our moments of weakness, and our wisdom when stuck in life’s complexities.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
(James 1:5)
Life and its traits of happiness and sorrow will unfold, but surrendering ourselves to God and His will should be the doing of our faith.
Why should surrendering to God be labeled as weak?
It is actually a sign of strength.
In a world that celebrates independence, achievement, and personal control, admitting that we need God may feel like admitting defeat to the non-believer.
We are taught to fight our battles, overcome our limitations, and be the masters of our destiny.
There is nothing wrong with working hard or striving for excellence.
Christianity does not call us to laziness or passivity.
It calls us to understand that our abilities, opportunities, and very existence are gifts before they are achievements.
Consider the breath you take this moment. Did you create the air that sustains you?
Did you command your heart to begin beating before you were born?
Did you design the earth that provides food, water, sunlight, and the conditions necessary for life?
We sustain ourselves, but we did not create the foundations upon which our lives depend.
The Bible reminds us in Acts 17:28,
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being.”
Life is not something we manufactured. It is something entrusted to us.
We owe a big thank you.
Surrendering our lives to God can be our way of gratitude.
To surrender is the humble recognition that our existence is not entirely our own accomplishment.
We receive life before we even understand it.
We receive the world before we learn to appreciate it. We receive countless provisions without even noticing them.
When we surrender to God, we are not saying,
“I am worthless, and I cannot do anything.”
We are saying,
“Lord, everything I am and everything I have begins with Your grace. Teach me to live this life with gratitude, wisdom, and purpose.”
That is not defeat… That is awakening.
Is our life enough to live by ourselves? No…
Our brains are wired for connection. Isolation leads to physical and mental decline.
We were made as social beings.
We need others to work and live with us to complete our lives and theirs.
So we need a family, friends, farmers, doctors, teachers, scientists, and engineers, even if we don’t deal with them personally, to physically complete and sustain our lives.
Our brains are wired for connection.
Emotionally, we need love, empathy, and community to feel whole.
So as mortals, we need fellow mortals.
Now, how much more is required of our Creator?
As mortals, we are vulnerable and fragile, having human limitations and understanding.
Creating wasn’t enough; sustenance and continuation are also needed from our Creator.
There is the truth of Divine Providence and continuous creation.
If a Creator simply built the universe and walked away, life would quickly collapse.
A clockmaker builds a clock, but the clock still requires laws of physics to keep ticking.
As mortals, we need the Creator to sustain the universe—keeping the sun burning, the earth fertile, and providing the breath of life day after day.
Creation is not a one-time event in the past; it is an ongoing action required for our continuation.
Now to surrender to God is to the source of the sustenance of your life.
Surrender to Christ: The Divine Sacrificial Lamb
Nicholas was of good faith. He believed that all things in life were the makings of his God; his God was Christ.
He walked each day in deep love with Jesus.
At a friend’s dinner, he was asked why he was so certain about Jesus—especially by those who thought God was only a man‑made belief.
They pressed him on why anyone should surrender to God, insisting it was a mere superstition or fear of some distant deity.
They even laughed as they finished.
Nicholas simply smiled as they mocked his faith.
He then spoke, saying, I surrender to my Jesus, as He bore the weight of my sins out of love for me.
And this love of Jesus is the reason that I’ll be reconciled with my Creator and live in eternity.
“Eternity?” his unbelieving friends scoffed. “Live this earthly life first,” they laughed, making fun of Nicholas.
Sarah supported Nicholas at the table and said, “Let him speak—don’t make fun.”
“Continue speaking,” Sarah told Nicholas.
Nicholas said,
It is only love that made Jesus endure humiliation, rejection, scourging, piercing pain, and death at the Cross.
He embraced it as an act of sacrificial love for me.
The hands that healed the sick were nailed to wood; the voice that spoke of mercy was met with mockery; the One who offered living water thirsted.
Yet, He did not abandon His mission of love.
Isaiah 53:5 declares that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
Our earthly days are numbered, Joel, but the Christian hope of eternal life rests upon Christ’s victory over sin and death.
That’s my and every Christian’s faith.
“Right,” said Sarah.
Think of ourselves as young parents—how much sacrifice and struggle we endure for our children, just as our own parents once sacrificed for us.
We love and honor our parents for all things they’ve done for us; how much more, then, should we love Christ, through whom we receive all goods in our present life, redemption, and the promise of eternity?
To surrender to Jesus is to love Him personally, to welcome His presence into our decisions, relationships, desires, and lives.
Like two hearts united in genuine love, we freely open ourselves to His will—not through fear or defeat, but through trust and devotion.
For me, everything centers on Christ, said Nicholas.
“To surrender is to worship, to love, and to become one with the One who first loved me.”
We do not surrender because we are conquered; we surrender because, at the foot of the Cross, we discover a love worthy of our whole lives.
God had kept it so easy and simple, but we, as humans with our intellect, think of it as just some folly.
One thing that was so obvious and seen by all at the table was that the most contented and peaceful of them all in life was Nicholas.
Nicholas continued, ‘I, too, am not spared from the troubles, problems, and hassles of life. “It’s okay,” I tell myself.
I speak about it all to my Christ, and together we live through them.
Surrender: A Love That Lives Beyond the Cross
Jesus, the Divine Sacrificial Lamb, has given us the promise and the gift of eternal life.
Thank you, Lord; our surrender is too small an act to be the price of redemption.
A grace unearned, that was freely offered.
In surrender is our offering of love, gratitude, a willing heart, and a life to be transformed by Jesus.
Why should I surrender to God?
The answer lies in not losing ourselves; it is about discovering who we are in His love.
It is choosing His ways over our selfishness, His forgiveness over our resentment, and His truth over the comfort of our own desires.
It is finding His presence in ordinary blessings of life and reflecting His love in the way we treat others.
Let us, therefore, surrender each day—not out of fear, obligation, or defeat, but out of a love that seeks to remain close to Him.
A Prayer of Loving Surrender
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the precious gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Divine Sacrificial Lamb who bore our sins and opened the way to eternal life.
Lord Jesus, I cannot repay Your love.
I offer You my heart and life.
Teach me to surrender my pride, my fears, my selfish desires, and everything that draws me away from You.
Help me to recognize Your goodness in every breath, every blessing, and every person You place in my life.
Let my love for You be reflected in my forgiveness, my kindness, my choices, and my care for others.
When I stumble, lead me back to Your mercy.
When I am weak, strengthen my faith. May I never forget the sacrifice You made for me.
Jesus, You gave Yourself for me. Let my life be an offering of love and thanksgiving to You.
May I walk with You today, remain in Your love, and live each day in the hope of eternity with You.
In Your holy name, I pray.
Amen.
