Total Surrender

Tithing is one way to worship God—to honor Him as your provider and to remind yourself that all of your resources belong to Him and are provided through His grace.

Sin brings destruction into your life and relationships. A clear conscience prompts you to live honorably in order to avoid the painful consequences of sin and the humiliation of confessing wrongdoing, asking for forgiveness, and making restitution.

A steward is someone entrusted with valuable possessions of another, such as an estate, a dwelling, or even one’s children. God entrusts us to be stewards of His possessions. Whatever has been given to me for my use ultimately belongs to God, and I am simply a caretaker of His belongings.

Crying out to God is an act of desperation and total concentration. It is a fervent expression of faith in God and trust in His goodness and power to act on your behalf.

Instead of looking at others’ actions, remember that you are responsible for what you have done. Even if you are guilty of only 10% of the offense, you need to resolve the conflict in that relationship before you will have a clear conscience.

Before you go to another person to seek forgiveness for an offense, repent before God and ask for His cleansing and forgiveness. Then as you go to the offended person, let your attitude and manner reflect the humility of one who is asking for something he does not deserve.

Repentance is not a mechanical duty but rather a heartfelt response to the conviction of sin. It involves not only grief over sin but also a decision to change one’s ways.

The truth of God’s Word will dispel doubts about salvation. As a Christian, you need to learn about the security of your standing in Christ and recognize the deception of the enemy, Satan, who seeks to torment you with doubt.

The fear of the Lord is an awareness that you are in the presence of a holy, just, and almighty God and that He will hold you accountable for your motives, thoughts, words, and actions. To fear God is to desire to live in harmony with His righteous standards and to honor Him in all that you do.

In seeking forgiveness for a wrong we have committed, our pride can get in the way, because asking for forgiveness requires us to humble ourselves before those we have offended. The key to obedience in this area is being open before the Lord, asking Him to search our hearts, and determining to follow through on whatever He shows us to do.

The enemy will do all he can to keep us from being open with our spouse about our sexual failures. Satan will convince us that confessing them will only bring hurt and confusion, that God has already forgiven us, and that they are sins of the past that have been dealt with. However, until we are open with our marriage partner regarding all failures—past and present—we will remain in bondage.