Mark 12:30: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Sometimes the concept of surrender is difficult. Above, is a verse that I have heard preached plenty of times in my life, something I have heard in songs, in movies, in sermons, etc. That verse was something that you are always taught to do, something you were always taught to believe, and something you were expected to do as a Christian. I figured that since I had given my life to God, that all of this was just going to be easy. I figured that because I was a Christian that by default, my whole heart, soul, mind, and all my strength would be given away. I had surrendered so much of my earthly desires to Him, yet one thing I had not truly deeply surrendered was my body. I would drink all the time, I would eat food that was bad for me, I wasn’t taking care of the gift that He gave me at birth, my body. So, with that in mind, recently I made a big decision in my life, I decided to quit drinking.
Why would I quit drinking? Drinking is in the Bible, Jesus drank wine, drinking is all throughout history, so why would I feel the need to stop? I stopped because drinking is something that, although not insanely major in my life, was something that had a bit of a stronghold on my body. I would drink a few times a week, rarely in excess, and never really had a problem with. When the idea of stopping came up, it was something I was kind of afraid to do, so I decided to do it.
In my life, whenever something has brought fear, I have been more encouraged to do it. After just one week, I feel amazing, I have more energy, my body looks and feels better. In just a week, I have been more productive, I have been more encouraged to work more. I’ve never seen an issue with drinking, I have no issue with others doing it, honestly, I love alcohol. I noticed that now, after just one week, how big of a stronghold alcohol had on my life. Like I said before, I had surrendered a lot of myself to God, but had neglected to sacrifice my body. Now, with a clearer mind and clearer body, I have been moving forward and will continue to move onto greater things. I feel so much more connected to the Lord and feel so much joy from the little things. Fundraising has become less daunting, working more hours sounds more enjoyable, and life just feels more fun to live. I am so joyful to say that I have now sacrificed every part of myself to the Lord and have no intent of looking backwards.
I would love to encourage you to look inside yourself and see if there is something you are holding back from giving to the Lord. It may be something that you may not see as a big deal or may be something really important to you, either way, I would encourage you pray about it and to take whatever it is and give it away. No matter what, our life is a gift from Him and we need to recognize that and be willing to give it all back to Him. As Mark says, ‘heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ Do not hesitate to love Him with all four of these things, it’s worth it in the end..
Thank you for reading, I know this was short, but it’s something that felt important to share! I am currently only $1,100 from reaching my first goal of $5,000! If you would like to partner with me and help me spread the love of Christ, I would feel honored to receive a donation from you, all amounts are helpful, just click donate at the top of the page if you feel led to do so. If you would like to see some of the fundraisers I am currently working on, please check out my Instagram: @miiggy.smalls feel free to send me a message on there if you have any questions or just need some encouragement. I would love to hear from you!
Much love,
Miguel
