Nothing is ever good enough for God

I heard a sermon this week from a close friend. He spoke about the difference between commiting to God and surrendering to God. You have heard it before, people say that they are committing or recommitting their lives to God. I am not so sure that a commitment is what God really wants from us. Think for a second about the things we commit to: a weekly bible study, a diet, a workout plan.

Some people keep their commitments, they stay with the diet, they finish P90x ( I lasted one day). Some slowly lose their drive, their discipline, and eventually the entire commitment. And then there are some people like me, who cant keep their commitments but wont give them up, they hang on to them and recommit weekly, sometimes even daily. This describes my relationship with God recently, a series of commitments to things Christians are supposed to do: read the bible, pray, love others. I try to be the best Christian possible and I beat myself up when I don't meet these self imposed standards that I came up with. This only leads to constant frustration and disappointment. Nothing is ever good enough for God, we cant do anything to make God love us more. He adores you, no matter how much you read, or pray, or how little you sin.

So what do we do? We stop committing parts of our lives to God and surrender our entire life to Him. Its not your life anyways, He gave it to you. And when you surrender it, He gives you a peace that you cant comprehend. A life of no pressure, no commitments, only freedom. I love how with God somethings seem upside down and backwards: weak is strong, death is life, last is first, and captivity is freedom. Put your hands in the air and surrender your life. Stop fighting, struggling, beating yourself up for not being good enough. Just surrender and find a life a freedom.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

- Galatians 2:19-21 (The Message)