Are You Giving Your Life to Jesus or Living Your Life for Yourself?

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

What does it really mean to give your life to Christ?

Here’s what it certainly DOESN’T mean…living your “best” life in this world.

You cannot give your life to Christ and also live your life for yourself.

I can best explain this with an illustration. 

One of the most valuable tangible items I own right now is a car. 

Let’s say that today I decided that I’m going to give my car to someone else. 

Let’s call him Joshua. 

If I actually GIVE my car to Joshua, then to whom does it belong? 

Joshua.

If it truly belongs to Joshua, then who decides how to use the car? Who decides where to drive it? When to leave it idle? When it needs service? 

Joshua.

If I actually gave that car away, then who would you expect to be driving that car now? 

Joshua.

Every purpose and use of that car (what used to be MY car) would now be decided by its new owner, Joshua.

Now, let’s say I’ve “given” Joshua the car, but I insist that only I can sit in the driver’s seat. I’ll allow Joshua to sit in the passenger seat.  

I will still decide where the car I’ve given to Joshua goes.

Sometimes I may ask Joshua for his input, but I’m going to make all of the decisions of where I drive that car, as well as how to get where I decide to go.

Does that car really belong to Joshua? Did I really give it to him?

No. I didn’t actually give that car away. I said I did, but in reality I kept it. 

I’m still the owner. I’m still driving the car.

The car is our life. 

Joshua, as you may have guessed, is Jesus.

When we give our life to Jesus, we can’t live our lives for ourselves at the same time. 

If we truly give our lives to him, then It no longer belongs to us. 

They’re His. 

It’s no longer us who decides what to do with our lives. 

He decides. 

He’s the new owner. The driver. The Lord. The Master.

Jesus does not wrestle us for control over our lives. He does not force us to give our lives to him. He does not coerce us to hand over our keys over the barrel of a loaded gun pointed directly at our temples.

But, he does ask us to give our lives to him willingly. 

And he’ll wait patiently while we decide if we want to do that or not.

If we hand over the keys to our lives, but then later decide we want them back, he won’t resist us. 

He’ll do everything he can to convince us that it’s best to let him be in the driver‘s seat, but he will not insist on having his own way. 

Love doesn’t do that. 

Love does not control. Love does not manipulate. Love does not intimidate. 

Love respects free will.

As simple as this illustration is, I never understood what it meant to give my life to Christ until I was in total desperation. 

I completely missed the point of what it means to surrender. I did not understand the assignment.

I went to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I studied the Bible. I even taught Bible study classes for many years.

But I kept living my own life for myself. 

I bought what I wanted. Went where I wanted. Spent my time how I wanted. Married who I wanted. Decided how many children I was going to have.

I did what I wanted to do, and I asked God to bless what I was doing. 

That’s not a picture of surrender. 

That’s a picture of deception.

When you decide to give your life to Jesus for real, your whole reason for existence will shift from self to Savior.

You will begin to live for His plan, His purpose, His pleasure.

That is all there is.

In truth, It won’t even be YOU living your life anymore. It will be Jesus living HIS life, the one that he paid for in blood, through you.   

This is what it means to seek the Kingdom of God first.

God and His will become your only priority.