Relating to God in a surrendered manner
In 1939, Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood on the deck of a ship returning from America to Germany, knowing full well that he was sailing back into the jaws of a rising tyranny. Friends in the United States had pleaded with him to stay. Remaining in safety would have been logical, even strategic. Yet Bonhoeffer felt a deeper call within him, a conviction that discipleship to Jesus was not a matter of convenience but of costly obedience.
Before he boarded the ship, he wrote in a letter: “I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I will not have any right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share in the trials of this time with my people.”
Bonhoeffer’s return was not heroic bravado; it was surrender. It was the relinquishing of personal safety, career opportunity, and even his own life’s trajectory to the will of God. He understood that discipleship always comes with a cross, that following Christ demands yielding control, laying down rights, and entrusting oneself fully to the authority of Jesus.
In Bonhoeffer’s life, surrender was not resignation. It was not passive. It was a vibrant, Spirit-awakened “yes” to God’s purpose, even when that “yes” carried him into danger, obscurity, and ultimately martyrdom.
While we may not face the same kind of trial Bonhoeffer encountered, we are confronted with the very same principle at the heart of following Jesus, surrender. And Christ does not merely ask us to lay down our obvious sins or destructive habits; He calls us to surrender everything; our desires, ambitions, comforts, rights, and even the small, unnoticed corners of daily life. It is easy to read stories like Bonhoeffer’s and assure ourselves that we, too, would rise to such courage in a moment of crisis. Yet the truth is that surrender is tested far more often in the mundane, where we quietly choose ourselves over Christ again and again.
Bonhoeffer’s story invites us to wrestle with the question every disciple must face: What does it truly mean to surrender to God? And this question leads us directly to the central reality of the Christian life, the Lordship of Christ, whose rightful rule extends not only over heroic moments of sacrifice, but also over the ordinary rhythms of our everyday obedience.
The Apostle Paul encourages the believers in Rome to live their lives as a living sacrifice. He writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). What does this mean for us today? It means that every aspect of our lives must be submitted to the Lordship of Christ, so that our earthly bodies become vessels for His purposes, and that we offer ourselves to Him with gladness.
This calling does not come without its challenges. We stumble and fall repeatedly, yet this is the very nature of sanctification, the lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the imputed righteousness of Christ, we are enabled to offer sacrifices that are pleasing to God. We do so knowing that it is He who works in us, and that whatever good we accomplish in this process is not the result of our own strength but of God’s work within us (Phil. 2:12–13).
Practical applications
If surrender is rooted in God’s transforming work within us, then the question becomes: How do we practice this in the ordinary patterns of life? Surrender is not a single dramatic moment but a daily posture of yielding ourselves to Christ’s authority. It takes place in the quiet decisions no one sees, the thoughts we capture, the desires we lay before Him, the obedience we choose even when it costs us comfort or pride. Practically, this means beginning each day by consciously placing our plans, our relationships, and our motivations under His Lordship. It means actively cooperating with the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal where self is still clinging to control. It means choosing obedience in the small things, speaking truth when it would be easier to remain silent, extending patience when we would rather react, confessing sin quickly rather than justifying it. These ordinary acts of surrender shape the inner life of a disciple and open us more fully to God’s sanctifying work.
Obedience in the small things:
Surrender begins long before we face life’s major crossroads; it is formed in the hidden places where no one else is watching. Obedience in the small things, choosing honesty over convenience, serving when it goes unnoticed, extending kindness when irritation feels easier, slowly shapes a surrendered heart. These seemingly insignificant choices train us to recognize the voice of Jesus and respond to His promptings with faithfulness. When we obey in the mundane, we build the spiritual muscle needed to obey in the moments that matter most.
Seeking Wisdom to Know When to Speak and When to Remain Silent:
Daily surrender also requires the wisdom to know when God is calling us to speak and when He is inviting us into silence. Not every moment demands our opinion, nor is silence always faithfulness. The surrendered disciple learns to pause, listen, and discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit before responding. There are times when truth must be spoken with grace and courage, and there are times when humility calls us to refrain, to pray, or simply to be present.
This kind of discernment is a form of obedience, and an acknowledgement that our words belong not to us but to Christ, who uses them as instruments of peace, conviction, and encouragement according to His will.
Confessing our sins:
One of the clearest expressions of surrender is a willingness to confess our sins. Confession breaks the illusion of self-sufficiency and returns us to a posture of humility before God. When we name our failures, bring our hidden struggles into the light, and receive the forgiveness Christ freely offers, we are surrendering our pride, our image, and our attempts to manage our own righteousness. Confession is not merely admitting wrong; it is an act of trust that God’s mercy is deeper than our sin and that His grace is sufficient to restore us.
Reorieniting our hearts towards the Gospel:
Surrender is sustained by returning again and again to the truth of the Gospel. Each day we must remind ourselves that our identity, security, and acceptance rest not in our performance but in the finished work of Christ. This daily reorientation recalibrates our hearts, lifting our gaze from self to Savior. Through Scripture, prayer, worship, and intentional remembrance, we anchor our lives in the reality that we belong to Christ. As the Gospel shapes our affections and renews our minds, surrender becomes a joyful response, not a burden, because we trust the One who holds us.
Bonhoeffer’s decision to return to Germany was not forged in a single moment of crisis, it was the culmination of a life shaped by daily surrender. In the quiet places where no one was watching, he had already learned to yield his desires, ambitions, and fears to the Lordship of Christ. So when the decisive moment arrived, surrender was simply the natural expression of a heart already trained to obey. Our lives may never demand the dramatic sacrifice Bonhoeffer embraced, yet the same call rests upon us: to give Jesus our “yes” in the small, mundane, and hidden corners of daily life. As we practice obedience in the small things, seek wisdom for when to speak and when to remain silent, confess our sins honestly, and reorient our hearts to the Gospel each morning. We, like Bonhoeffer, are formed into disciples who can surrender fully because we have surrendered daily. In this way, God shapes ordinary believers into extraordinary reflections of Christ.
Discussion / Reflection Questions
Where do you sense Christ inviting you to surrender in the mundane aspects of daily life?
Which of the four practices: obedience, wisdom, confession, or daily Gospel reorientation, do you find most difficult, and why?
How has the Lordship of Christ been challenged or strengthened in your recent decisions or circumstances?
In what ways does Bonhoeffer’s story encourage or confront your own approach to discipleship?
What small act of surrender can you intentionally practice today?
Unless noted otherwise all scripture is from ESV.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this line in a letter to Reinhold Niebuhr on June 21, 1939. The letter is preserved in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 14: Theological Education at Finkenwalde: 1935–1937.
