The Strength of Surrender

Want to know the secret to strength training? 

I’m not talking about the tips workout enthusiasts add to gym selfies or the videos from fitness influencers talking about what they do in the gym. Their suggestions can be helpful in figuring out ways to better steward your health and body. But as I’ve scrolled through that kind of social media content lately, I’ve found myself thinking that most of the advice targeting my age group has an expiration date that people tend to overlook.

Imagine if you could fast forward beyond a forty-second reel to fifty years in the future. The young-now influencer who set up her phone to record will face the same inevitable effects of time as those currently in their later years. She too will feel the weight of gravity, deal with wrinkled skin and an aging body. Fifty years from now, her advice about the benefits of lifting weights to maintain muscle mass and improve bone health will still be relevant.

But the true strength she’ll need—what really endures—is not found in weightlifting tips, but in a timeless wisdom that reaches across all seasons, life stages, and cultures, stretching all the way into eternity. Real strength, I’m learning, doesn’t come from lifting more. It begins when you lay your life down. 

Jesus’ Call to True Strength

As a woman, you may feel pressure to be a certain kind of strong. Physically, yes—but also mentally and emotionally. You’re not only supposed to prove you spend time working out, but you’re also expected to show you’re capable of carrying your own weight in all areas of life. Strength as the world often views it is about control, independence, and self-sufficiency. 

Jesus turned that definition upside down, defining strength not in terms of what you gain but what you’re willing to give up. In Luke 14, He explains what that entails. 

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has called Luke 14:25 “one of the clearest statements of the practical terms of surrender for every follower of Christ.” In her book Surrender: The Heart God Controls, she gives context to this passage of Scripture:

In verse 25, we find Jesus surrounded by a large crowd. Unlike what we might have been tempted to do, Jesus never played to an audience. He wasn’t concerned about His ratings; He wasn’t running for office or trying to attract the biggest crowd in town. He knew full well that when some heard His message, they would lose interest in His movement. But that didn’t keep Him from being straightforward.¹

In verses 26–27, Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” 

Jesus wasn’t saying to literally hate one’s family and violate the Law (Ex. 20:12), but He was emphasizing the necessity of prioritizing love for Christ and loyalty to Him above all else. He also called His disciples to carry their own cross. As Nancy explains: 

There could be no mistaking Jesus’ point . . . Everyone listening to Jesus knew that a cross meant only one thing—death. He was calling them to come and die to everything that competed with his reign and rule in their lives . . . 

Jesus’ words in Luke 14 are penetrating because they are so intensely personal and practical. He did not speak in sweeping generalities; rather, He identified specific issues that must be surrendered by those who call themselves His followers—things like our relationships, our affections, our physical bodies, our rights, and our possessions.²

When you think of the strongest Christian women you know, they are most likely women who have sought to live out what Christ has called them to in Luke 14, surrendering anything that competes with His reign. As Nancy says, these words are intensely personal and practical, asking us to entrust our relationships, our rights, and even our lives to Him. 

Surrender isn’t achieved through effort or discipline alone. It happens through dependence on the Lord, by admitting that you can’t choose the way of the cross unless He enables you to do so. It’s not a once-and-for-all decision, but a daily dying to anything that vies for the throne of your heart. It’s a continual choice to give Him control. 

The natural resistance training of trusting the Lord day by day and allowing Him to lead you helps you grow in godliness, in faith, and in love for Him. And along the way, you find not only a strength that endures but the joy that comes from living a life fully surrendered to Him.

The Strength of Letting Go 

In weightlifting, progress is often measured by tracking personal records and proving that you’re lifting more weight over time. But what would it look like to measure your life not by how much you’re able to carry, but by what the Lord helps you to lay down?

The shift in perspective can be hard to make, especially when we’re so conditioned to focus on what we can achieve and carry. Think of it in terms of the split-screen videos on social media, where one side shows the original video and the other side features someone attempting to imitate it—often with comical results when they fall far short of the example. 

If our lives were placed on a split screen next to Jesus’ example, our choices, actions, and sacrifices would fall so short of His. Because of His ultimate surrender and willingness to lay down His own life at every detour and decision He encountered, we receive His perfect strength and imputed righteousness through salvation (Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

My hope is that as we age and as we get more reps under our belt of learning to depend on the Lord, we’ll want to lay more areas down—and in the process, we’ll look more and more like Him, transformed from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor. 3:18).

In each point below, the first statement reflects Jesus’ example, and the second describes what it could look like for a woman to reflect His strength as she follows in His example. As you read through the list, consider what the Lord may be calling you to surrender to Him today, and ask for His help to do so. 

• He surrendered His physical strength, even when it meant weakness, hunger, exhaustion, and death on a cross (Matt. 4; Luke 23:46). 

→ She spent her energy for the sake of serving others, refused to abuse her body or use it for sin, and sought to steward both her health and her limitations for His glory. 

• He surrendered His relationships, even when it meant rejection, betrayal, and abandonment by those closest to Him (Mark 14:50; John 6:66).

→ She prioritized loyalty to Christ above all else, seeking to reflect His heart to her family, friends, and neighbors, yet holding all relationships loosely in obedience to Him. 

• He surrendered His affections, not indulging feelings such loneliness or anger, but ruling over every emotion (Isa. 53:3; Matt. 26:39).

→ She entrusted her deepest longings to the Lord, didn’t let cravings or moods dictate her decisions, and loved nothing in heaven or on earth more than Him. 

• He surrendered His rights, laying down divine privileges to become a servant (Phil. 2:6-8; John 13:15–17).

→ She chose humility over personal entitlement, wasn’t demanding or controlling, and was quick to say “Yes, Lord!” when given opportunities to obey His Word. 

• He surrendered His possessions, having no earthly home, and fully trusted His Father’s provision (Matt. 8:20; 2 Cor. 8:9).

→ She believed all that she owned belonged to the Lord, was generous with and grateful for His provision, and recognized her true wealth was found in eternal treasures. 

• He surrendered His will to the Father, even to the point of death, to accomplish God’s eternal purposes for salvation (John 10:17–18; Heb. 10:7).

→ She followed Christ in laying down all of her own desires and plans, trusting His sovereignty in every season of life, knowing that His purposes are always for her good and for His glory. 

Surrender is a lifelong endeavor and a different kind of strength training—but one you’ll have the privilege of pursuing all your days until you’re with Christ in glory. Until then, may you, like Jesus, embrace the wisdom of laying down your life, trusting that His strength will eternally be made perfect in your weakness.

Surrender means keeping nothing back—offering Him all we are, all we have, and all we desire. It’s what we’re focusing on throughout the month at Revive Our Hearts.

¹ Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness ; Surrender ; Holiness: A Revive Our Hearts Trilogy (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008) 203.

² Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness ; Surrender ; Holiness: A Revive Our Hearts Trilogy (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008) 203–204.