“The greatness of a person’s power
is the measure of their surrender.”
— William Booth (1829–1912)
The title of this article may be confusing
to some; I need to say that upfront.
Power and surrender are not
usually paired together. But they are in a Gospel setting. This is nothing new to Christians, of
course. But the world is deluded when it insists on demanding and commanding
for power, for that type of power is a fabrication in the mind of the purveyor.
The true source of power is at the other extreme; power not through force, but
through surrender.
This is about leadership. True
power is leadership. And leadership is about the achievement of a charismatic
respect. A good leader has followers who want to follow.
A good leader has a good grasp on surrender; they know when and how to give to others. Most fundamentally, they know how
important it is to give; that to give is to store up blessings for later.
Giving is an investment that
multiplies in many different and unpredicted ways.
The Power in Giving
Giving is not only a material
thing, but also a spiritual thing. What we give spiritually is our right of
way; it’s our surrender on inconsequential issues; it’s our benefit of any
doubt going their way; it’s giving when we choose to give.
Surrender is always about going
the way of truth. When we’re wrong we admit it.
When we have about us the freedom
to surrender—before God and through appropriate situations—we exemplify
maturity. Such a spiritual maturity is a demonstration of personal power;
again, this sort of personal power is nothing like the so-called personal power
of the high-roller—the deluded person.
Of course, the world’s idea of
power is about knowledge, authority, acquisition, influence, and control. But
real personal power comes without the need of knowledge, has its authority in
God, acquires only what it needs and gives the rest away, gives influence and
acclaim rather than receiving it, and takes pleasure in relinquishing control
so others may gain.
Real power is a gift of wisdom to
know we have no power despite God.
The only power we may have is
ascribed by God, and it comes from giving away power. The more power we give
away through loving deeds, the more power we enjoy. It comes without any
effort, whatsoever. It’s a very simple formula. It works!
***
When we surrender we’re a threat
to no one. With nothing to gain, then we may be trusted.
Perhaps we’ve heard it said, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Therein lays the secret to the true source of
personal power. The more we can give ourselves away, the more personal power
God pushes back our way. The more others are blessed, the more we are blessed.
© 2013 S. J.
Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment