Surrendered Mindset
by Mike Killebrew
Songs, tunes, and even advertisement jingles often get stuck in my head. I’ll hear one once, and hours later, it replays. As soon as I saw this month’s blog topic, "Live Like Jesus: Surrender," my mind immediately went to a familiar hymn from my childhood. Perhaps you know it, too. If you do, you might find yourself humming it along with me. The song is All to Jesus I Surrender, and the opening lines are as follows:
All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all.
You’re welcome! For the rest of the day, this song might be stuck in your head, just like it is in mine. However, I consider that a good thing. I’m hopeful that the significant meaning behind the words and the catchy tune, gets stuck in my head for rest of my life!
Focusing on "Living Like Jesus through a Life of Surrender" seems like a perfect way to begin a new year. I’m grateful to the Lord that we at e2 are starting 2025 with this profound theme. Jesus’s life gives us the ultimate example of surrender, culminating in the cross and resurrection which changed everything for us. He doesn’t ask us to surrender all without having done so first. Jesus put everyone else ahead of Himself and surrendered fully to the will of the Father. Let’s explore a few key moments of Jesus’s surrender.
Surrendering His Will
In the garden at the base of the Mount of Olives, Jesus surrendered His will to the Father’s. He prayed in Luke 22:42, “Not my will but yours be done.” He previously declared this in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me.”
Surrendering to Arrest
When soldiers came to arrest Him, Jesus did not hide or resist. Instead, He faced them and asked whom they sought. He surrendered to their custody, knowing what was ahead.
Surrendering to Trials and the Cross
Jesus endured trials before the religious leaders, Pilate, and Herod. Ultimately, He surrendered to crucifixion, carrying the weight of humanity’s sin.
Surrendering His Spirit
On the cross, Jesus completed His surrender, saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
As we strive to live like Jesus, we must ask ourselves what surrender looks like in our own lives. Paul encourages us in Philippians 2:5-8 to adopt the same mindset as Jesus:
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
We are free to bring our desires and requests to God, yet surrender calls us to embrace His will with our whole hearts, even when His answer isn’t what we hoped for. Surrender means coming to God with open hands, releasing our desire to control outcomes, and trusting that He holds us firmly no matter what.
When we fully surrender to God, we rest assured in His presence and His unwavering grip on us. May this posture of surrender not only mark our new year but also shape our lives. Let the song’s final words be an anthem to close this blog:
Glory, glory to His name!
