One word that grants peace and security

An ongoing battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Self is fought daily in the fields of our hearts. One word can end this prolonged warfare and stop the carnage: “Surrender!” Yet, it runs entirely contrary to a human nature prone to fight, defend its cause, and preserve a misguided identity.

Imagine a lone horseman approaching a city gate with a message from an opposing king. As he reads the terms of surrender, the citizens are aghast. With no enemy in sight, danger feels distant. Protected by massive walls built to withstand any attack, they mock the messenger. “Surrender? That’s ridiculous!” Their smug faces reveal a false sense of security as they send him away and return to business as usual.

We don’t build stone fortresses anymore, but we still construct them. Brick by brick, earthly portfolios fund “castles in the sky” to buy peace. God helps those who help themselves, our itching ears want to hear, eager for the blessings. As Joel Osteen puts it: “Whatever follows I AM is going to come looking for you.”

The mortar of these walls is mixed with our good works—as Mormon scripture suggests, “If thou wilt do good… thou shalt be saved.” The drawbridge is secured by human reason, echoing Friedrich Nietzsche’s claim that “nothing is as precious as human reason and freedom.” The world confidently asks, “How could a loving God not look upon me with mercy?” But when the storm hits, the proud are humbled too late.

In the smugness of unbelief, we build walls that block our ears. Like that horseman, God calls Christians to boldly deliver his terms anyway: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Surrender means abandoning the belief that our treasures, reason, or achievements provide spiritual safety. But the Gospel goes even deeper. How can the spiritually dead choose to surrender? They can’t. It requires a miracle. God produces a new life within us, shifting our identity entirely to Christ.

It is no longer about striving—or even trying to surrender hard enough—to “become” something. It is about resting in who we already are in Christ.

Life is not about serving our personal happiness; it is about loving God and giving him the glory he uniquely deserves. Those who trust Christ don’t need to build defensive walls because the ultimate enemy has already been defeated. Christ surrendered for us. That is the message of peace we get to deliver to our neighbors.