Letting Go to Grow

This will not be easy. As many teachers and sponsors of the Twelve Steps have said, the first step—admitting you’re powerless and your life is unmanageable—is probably the hardest. It’s the most denied, the most avoided. Without it, the whole process of spiritual maturity stalls before it even begins. After all, no one likes to die to who they think they are.

But all mature spirituality starts with letting go. Jesus Himself modeled this surrender. In the garden He prayed, “Not my will but yours be done” (Matthew 26:39). He humbly and courageously yielded, growing spiritually through obedience and suffering.

Letting go is liberating, but it doesn’t come without struggle. We must empty ourselves of ego, shifting the center of gravity away from self and toward God. Prioritizing space for Him within changes everything. If we are going to truly live, we are going to lose—again and again. Conversion is not a single moment but a lifelong process, and it will be painful. It breaks us away from old, entrenched beliefs and attitudes.

Our consumer-driven culture makes this even harder. It whispers that value is found in addition: more possessions, more success, more recognition—even in our religion. We begin to think that spirituality is about earning points with God, attaining enlightenment, or achieving moral behavior. But in truth, mature spirituality is not about addition—it’s about subtraction. It’s not attaining but giving away, not ego but surrender.

Yes, our lives are crowded with distractions—social media, emails, texts, broken dreams, lost years, and unresolved issues. But if we are going to mature, we must do as Jesus did: empty ourselves and trust God with our lives.

Paul reminds us of Christ’s example in Philippians 2:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

Letting go may feel like dying, but it is the very doorway to life.

Grace to you,
Cedric
Traditionalwriter@yahoo.com