Paradoxically, the abundant life promised us in Christ comes not from grasping but from releasing. It comes not from striving but from relinquishing. It comes not so much from taking as from giving. Surrender is the foundational dynamic of Christian freedom—surrender of my efforts to live my life outside of the grasp of God’s love and surrender to God’s will and gracious Spirit. Surrender is being willing rather than willful. It is a readiness to trust that is based in love. It is relaxing and letting go. It is floating in the river that is God’s love.
