I have perfected the art of giving up. As I get older, I allow myself to pass on opportunities or situations because I have already predisposed myself to what my limitations are. When I was young, I didn’t have these limitations, but as life has continued on, I perfected the art of giving up on what could be.
Philippians 3:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
It’s easy to fall victim to your own limitations. We limit ourselves as if we were oppressed in some way. When Jesus took the fall for our sins on the cross, do you think he was giving up? Absolutely not! Jesus’ final words on the cross are documented in John 19:30 where before taking his last breath he said, “it is finished.” Those are words of completion, not words of having given up. Jesus executed an impossible plan to full completion.
We are not being called to die on the cross (Thank the Lord!). We are being called to bear witness to it. To live our life according to biblical principles that are the words that allow the Holy Spirit to speak in our lives in a personal way. When I decide to give up, I am blocking what God has provisioned for me. By doing that I am denying what Jesus did on the cross.
When I give into a sin, I am giving up on what is promised to me. When I pass on an opportunity because of self-doubt, I am giving up on something that could have been amazing. When I decide not to share my testimony out of fear, I am giving up an opportunity to bear witness to God’s transforming grace.
I need a constant reminder of what is possible in my life. God’s grace is sufficient, but my mind is weak. If I am not running towards His grace, I am running away from it.
How have you perfected the art of giving up? How can you change the path you are currently on to a path surrounded by God’s grace and endless mercy?
