We’re near the end of our series as we look at the lessons God has taught me over the years in women’s ministry. You can read more about the first 2 lessons here, lessons 3 and 4 here, lessons 5 and 6 here, and lessons 7 and 8 here.
Lesson 9: Surrender All to Him
In following Christ, we must die to ourselves and allow Jesus to live in and through us. We must lay down all we have and all we are. Luke 14:27 tells us, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Oswald Chambers deals with the issue of surrender many times in My Utmost for His Highest:
True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.”
“If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way he gave Himself for us—totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.”
“Most of us live only within the level of consciousness—consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach—a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint—a saint is consciously dependent on God.”
Lift up your soul daily to the One who can take it, protect it, and work all things for His good. Trust Him not only with the big needs and issues in your life. Trust Him with all the little things as well.
Lesson 10: Give God the Glory
All glory belongs to God—we are never to claim glory for ourselves or give it to others for what God has done in and through our ministries. To minister in service to Christ is an incredible privilege. Beth Moore says: “I am absolutely convinced that seeking God’s glory rather than our own incredibly enhances life on a purely human level. The trouble is it can’t be done on a human level. Few things are more contrary to our human natures than desiring anyone’s fame above our own…To fulfill our God-given destinies—to allow the King of all creation to show Himself through us—we must overcome the temptation to seek our own glory by desiring His instead.”
Remember, the ministry in which you serve is not yours! The psalmist said: “Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for me” (Ps. 66:16). And he also wrote, “Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth.” (Ps. 115:1).
Next week, I’ll share a bonus life lesson I’ve learned and some closing thoughts as we wrap up this series on life lessons in women’s ministry.
This article is adapted from a chapter written by Chris Adams and found in Women Reaching Women: Beginning and Building a Growing Women’s Ministry compiled by Chris Adams.