Total Reliance: Letting God Live Through You.

If there’s one thing God has taught me this year — one lesson that has completely transformed my spiritual life — it’s this: total and absolute reliance on Him.

For so long, I thought the Christian life was something I had to live. I believed I needed to muster the strength to let go of sin, to walk away from my past, to hold myself accountable. But the truth is, I sustain no capacity to live this life. None.

This Christian life? It isn’t lived by us. It’s Christ living through us.

Scripture makes it clear:

“In Him we live and move and have our being.” — Acts 17:28
Yet, somehow, we’ve been taught that we’re the ones who need to get it together. We’re told, “You need to stop sinning,” or “You have to become better.” But let me ask you — who told you that you had the power to do anything on your own?

Letting Go of Self-Reliance
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” — Proverbs 3:5

Salvation is simple. Scripture says:

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” — Romans 10:9
That’s it. No hoops to jump through. No performance required. Just faith.

So why do we try so hard to take things into our own hands? Do you know that it’s prideful to think you can live the Christian life by your own strength?

I hear believers say, “When I don’t pray enough, I feel sad.” But I have to ask — who is the One who works in and through you? Scripture says:

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” — 2 Corinthians 3:5
Even the ability to pray comes from Him. The Holy Spirit is the one who stirs our hearts, who intercedes through us with groanings that words cannot express (Romans 8:26). We are vessels — nothing more, nothing less.

What Then Should We Do?
Just surrender.

That’s it. Stop striving. Stop trying to force yourself into holiness. You don’t have the power to make yourself holy — but the One who dwells in you does.

You’ve received the whole of God. He is holy, and His holiness now lives in you. Stop trying to become what only He can make you. Let Him shape you. Let Him lead you. Let Him live through you.

Learning to Let Go
Last year, I had my whole life planned out. I had schedules, goals, even a structured prayer life. And you know what? None of those plans happened. Not one.

But this year? I made no plans. No schedules. I just walked with the Holy Spirit.

And guess what?

This blog was birthed.
A worship meeting was birthed.
A women’s ministry was birthed.
I’m almost done with the Old Testament — something I never thought possible.
I even fell in love with the character of Leah (a story for another day).
I stopped striving, and God moved.

Along the way, I’ve learned that we only see in part, and we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). I mean, think about it — Matthew records two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes, while Luke only mentions one (Matthew 8:28, Luke 8:27). Same event. Different perspectives.

That’s how life is. We only see pieces, but God sees the whole picture. And when we surrender, He weaves everything together perfectly.

Christ Lives Through Us
So, if you’re tired of striving… if you’re weary of trying to do the Christian life — stop.

Let go.
Surrender.
Lean into Him.

Because the truth is, it was never about you. It was always about Christ, living His life through you.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” — Galatians 2:20
He is the source. He is the strength. And He is more than enough.

Let Him live through you.