Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Surrender to Christ vs. Guilt for Not Doing So

Dear brother Michael, I found your site via Adventist Pulpit and a comment you left there about reading Ellen White.

While I do look forward to your post about how to surrender, and while I'm pleased to see how on fire for the Lord you are in your blog, I am saddened that the obsession, if I may call it such, with 100% consecration, sometimes experiencing 99%, other times 90-95% consecration, sounds strangely out of synch with righteousness-by-faith in Jesus. If we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and keep on looking at him, what need of feeling guilty of holding back?

Guilt, especially in the Christian life, can be a destructive thing, that only leads you into depression and feelings of low self-esteem. Yes, it would be perfect to be 100% consecrated to Christ. When we're glorified at the 2nd coming, we will be 100% consecrated to him for sure, in the meantime, enjoy your life more. Avoid evil activities that keep you out of synch with Christ, but more importantly, live and enjoy your life to the fullest, less you come to the end of your Earthly life and realize that it was not always 100% consecrated to Christ and that your life was not all it could have been. Living for regrets, present or future, sounds like a truncated life, at best. May God bless you, and all who read this. Again, I look forward to your post about how to surrender. I have been trying to surrender to Christ more and more for all of my 51 years, and in the meantime, I fix my gaze on Christ and try to enjoy Him as well as all the blessings he sends my way.

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