[lead dropcap="yes"]Ever wonder why home organization TV shows are so popular? People often relate to the desire for cleaner living spaces, but struggle with letting go of things that carry sentimental value. The fascinating part of these shows is the breakthrough moment when the client understands that their habit of holding on is keeping them from having what they could achieve — peace of mind, clearer thinking and a sense of success.[/lead]This weekend, we delved deeper in our collection of talks on the Book of James as Pastor DawnCheré Wilkerson compelled us to do the work of cleaning and clearing out the clutter in our hearts to make room for God’s work in our lives. Reading from James 4, she identified a key issue that hinders many from having clean hearts - an unwillingness to submit.

Submit Yourself

The word “submit” conjures up negative connotations in a society that encourages independence. But here is the truth: God desires to give us daily freedom when we submit. This truth may seem like a paradox, which is why it is important to know what submission is not: It is not enduring abuse when there’s a way out, not blaming others for our dysfunction, not turning off our brains, and not demeaning.

Rather, submission is: choosing God’s way over ours, the right actions over emotions, humility over pride, and love over hate. There is nothing more transformative than a life of submission to God.Pastor DawnCheré gave us three thoughts on choosing submission in our daily lives:

1. SUBMISSION OVER SELFISHNESS

Our sinful nature feels it’s what we get that brings fulfillment. In choosing submission, our focus changes to what can be given instead of what can be gained. The cure for selfishness is a life of generosity.

2. SUBMISSION OVER SHALLOWNESS

Let’s go deeper in our faith walk. It’s easy to stay on the surface by just fulfilling our duties of attending church on Sundays and even volunteering our time but yet, not seeing any progress in our lives. We might have lost the big picture, that God cares more about our hearts’ motives than what we do. Jesus commanded us to lay the ax to the root (those hidden issues like pride, bitterness) in order to produce fruit in our lives.

3. SUBMISSION OVER SLANDER

Often times, we’re quick to criticize than offer a word of encouragement. God never intended us to be in the judgment seat of others' lives. This is why Jesus commanded us not to judge, and James echoed the same. Instead, we ought to take an inventory of our words to find out if they are bringing life or death. We need to get rid of the outdated language of bitterness and start communication in a new language of love.Our prayer is for God to search our hearts and uproot anything he finds that’s not like him to see the path of his purpose for our lives.

[cta heading="Download the VOUS SOAP Journal" subtext="Join us as we study the Book of James with this 8-Week Bible journal." actiontext="Download" link="http://blog.vouschurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/VOUS-CHURCH-The-Book-of-James-—-SOAP-Journal.pdf"]

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