How much of myself should I give? That’s the question C.S. Lewis asked in Mere Christianity. We can be the type of people who try to give everything, but then just give up trying to be good. Or we can become the type of people who spend our lives trying to give of ourselves to others grumbling and complaining in the process wondering why others don’t notice and making a martyr of ourselves each day.
Paul says our identity is only in Christ. Everything else, Paul says, is loss. So, how much of ourselves should we give? C.S. Lewis in that famous line says: “Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.’”[1]
This can all be summarized in Paul’s famous statement: “Take up your cross and follow me.” Jesus does not want to compete with any rebellious bone in your body. He wants your all.
Worship demands your all. Body and soul. Whatever part of yourself not prepared to enter into the presence of God this morning, pray during confession that Jesus would kill it, so your worship may be pleasing in the sight of our God.
[1] Lewis, quoted in Devotional Classics.