At a recent church service we were singing the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” by Frances Ridley Havergal. One phase of this hymn states: “Take my will and make it thine, It shall be no longer mine”. This phrase struck me because I could look at it in two different ways.
The first is what Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42-43 ESV) There are times when our will conflicts with God’s will and we must submit to God’s will.
The second is what we have consistently stated in this blog and that is our ultimate goal is that our soul is to become like God which means our will should be like God’s will. We should desire the same things as God does. So if we are constantly telling God “not my will but yours be done”, then something is wrong in our relationship with God. Our will should not be in constant conflict with God’s will, instead it should be in the process of becoming the same as God’s will.
