Our wills are naturally selfish. We love to have our own way. It's not easy to submit to the will of another, unless there is some strong motive that impels us to submission. The carrying out of our wills in a selfish way, only leads to more selfishness and to a stronger inclination to have our own way. It is this selfish inclination in the will, that makes it necessary for God to demand submission from us.
His will is never selfish, but always benevolent. The cheerful doing of it always leads to an increase of benevolence in us. Therefore, when God demands us to submit our wills to him, he is doing that which is best for us. The more consideration for others and true benevolence is developed within us the more our natures are purified and exalted and the more we are able to fulfill the purpose of our creation.
Submitting to God is often the hardest of all tasks, yet it's the most necessary, if we're to be exalted to fellowship with God and enjoy the highest development of our faculties and powers. Selfishness always tends to degrade. Its ignoble exercise tends to dwarf and blight the finest things in our characters. The adoption of a submissive attitude toward God and his will, paves the way for the natural development of those qualities within us which are most worth developing, and which ennoble us most when they're developed. The more our souls run out God-ward, the more like him we become; and the more like him we become, the happier and more useful we are. Unselfish devotion to benevolent service toward God and toward our fellow man, enriches the heart and life as nothing else can do, and leads the way to happiness, peace, and contentment, which make one truly blessed.
Submission to God is the one necessary thing in order to enjoy the Christian life. The more fully we are submitted to his will, the more cheerfully we can carry it out, and the sweeter and richer will be the joy of doing it. Reluctant submission to God is not real submission. Reluctant obedience is never real obedience. It's only when the heart responds to God willingly and cheerfully, that the power of such service to make one joyful is realized. We must conquer our reluctant wills. "The essence of sacrifice of self is the sacrifice of the will. Unwilling offerings are a contradiction, and in fact, there are no such things. The quality of unwillingness destroys the character of the offering and robs it of all sacredness. Reluctant Christianity is not Christianity."
True nobility of both the inner and the outer life comes from submission to, and cooperation with, God. The nature of our relations with God depends upon the extent of our submission to him.
[Charles Naylor]
