Repentance Involves Giving Yourself to God

Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.Romans 6:13Notice what the apostle Paul says just before this: “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness” (6:13). Paul is talking here about the possibility of offering yourself to sin—your capacities, what you can do with the skill of your hands, the creativity of your mind, and so on.This is the negative dimension of repentance, and now Paul is going to state the positive. You might expect him to say: “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness. But rather present your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” But that is not what he says.There is something else that you have to do first: “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” Why? Because before you can offer your gifts, you have to offer yourself.Offering yourself to God means putting yourself at His disposal and leaving Him to assign the task. The use He makes of your gifts is up to Him. There is a wonderful freedom that comes from saying, “I offer myself to You. How You use me, I leave in your hands.” That’s freedom.What do you know of this kind of freedom?