When Jesus Christ Is Calling You to Let Go
The Weight We Learn to Live With
Sometimes we don’t realize how much we’ve been carrying until the Holy Spirit begins putting His finger on it. What once felt normal starts to feel heavy in the presence of God. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) tells us, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” To follow this command, we need to pay close attention to what’s happening internally. Because some of those weights are obvious, but others have been with us so long that they’ve become part of how we think and respond.
The truth is, we carry fear, unforgiveness, unhealthy relationships, wrong beliefs, pride, old disappointments, and habits that no longer belong in the life Jesus Christ has called us to live. We become so accustomed to carrying them that we stop recognizing them as weight.
When Familiar Isn’t God’s Best
Not everything we hold onto looks sinful at first. Sometimes it’s a mindset. Sometimes it’s an offense we never released. Sometimes it’s an expectation we’ve refused to surrender. And that’s a big one, because our expectations don’t always line up with God’s plan for our lives. We have to understand that just because something has become familiar—it doesn’t mean God intends for us to keep carrying it.
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT) says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life… Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” Jesus Christ is continually transforming us. As He renews our minds, He also reveals the things that no longer fit the new life He’s given us.
What Keeps Pulling Us Back?
Even after we come to Christ, old patterns don’t just disappear overnight. Temptation still shows up. Old wounds still try to speak into how we think and how we respond. The enemy knows he can’t take away our salvation, but he will absolutely try to keep us distracted, discouraged, and living beneath what Jesus Christ has already finished for us.
Looking for the places where fear, unforgiveness, pride, or unhealthy desires have been left unaddressed is the enemy’s goal, because he uses those things against us. That’s one of the reasons God tells us to strip them off. They are the very places that keep us from walking in the freedom He wants for us.
Jesus said in John 10:10 (NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This is what Jesus Christ made available to us. We can have it because He says we can. But every time we keep holding onto what Christ is asking us to release, we give those old patterns room to influence us. They chip away at our faith until we stop reaching for everything He has already placed within our reach.
The question isn’t whether something feels familiar. The question is whether Jesus Christ is asking us to let it go. As we surrender those areas to Him, we begin to walk more freely in the abundant life He came to give us.
Freedom Begins With Surrender
Most of us would rather hold onto what we know than trust God with what we cannot yet see. But obedience isn’t built on feelings. It’s built on faith.
Surrender is choosing to believe that Jesus Christ knows what is best, even when releasing something feels uncomfortable. As we place those burdens into His hands, He begins doing what only He can do—healing our hearts, renewing our minds, and teaching us to walk in His peace.
Becoming More Like Him
That’s a question each of us should ask before the Lord. Is there an offense He has been asking you to forgive? A fear you’ve continued to nurture? A relationship that’s pulling you away from Him? A habit you’ve justified? A belief about yourself that doesn’t agree with His Word? Questions like these are ones we should bring before the Lord.
Jesus Christ is never asking us to let go because He wants less for us. He asks us to release what keeps us from becoming more like Him. The things He calls us to lay down can never compare to the freedom, peace, and abundant life He is waiting to place in our hands. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“What Are You Still Holding On To?”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2026. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
