We like to think that we are in charge of our life. I have a friend that is exploring her faith and she told me, “The biggest thing that is holding me back from making the decision to follow Jesus is that I still want control.” My friend wants to be king over her life. She understands that if she follows Jesus, she has to give up control.
Giving up control scares us, because the uncertainty freaks us out. But when we give up control, we gain freedom.
We want to be king. In our eyes, being king equates to having control of our lives and fulfilling the desires of our hearts. But there can only be one king. You or Jesus.
Taking off your crown and giving it to Jesus is not a one time decision, but a daily decision.
The word “crown” is mentioned 57 times in the ESV Bible. Here are a few of those verses and the importance of a crown.
- “And he took the crown of their king from his head.” – 2 Samuel 12:30. David took off the crown and placed it on his head. What does this mean? There can only be one king.
- “The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” – Ester 2:17. Their can only be one queen.
- “He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.” – Job 19:9. If we don’t remove our crown from our own head, Jesus will.
- “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” – Isaiah 62:3. When you give Jesus your crown, you become a crown of beauty in his eyes.
- “and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ ” – Matthew 27:29. Jesus wore a crown of thorns. If we continue to make ourselves kings, we are mocking Jesus. Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us. He took on our sins for us. And what do we do? Take the crown off his head and place it on ours.
There can not be 2 kings.
We need to pray for strength to take off our own crowns and give them to Jesus.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10. Humble yourself by taking off your prideful crown, giving it to Jesus, and then you will experience the true prize – being exalted by Jesus the one and only King.
What area of your life is it hardest to take off your crown and give Jesus control?
Bonus: Here are more verses about crowns you can read: Rev 2:10, 3:11, 6:2, 12:1, 14:14. 1 Peter 5:4, Jas 1:12
adeasterly
at (10 years ago)Needed this, thanks Joy!
Josselin Camacho
at (10 years ago)I loved this!!! I total y give up control. You are AWESOME Joy!
Josselin Camacho
at (10 years ago)Totally *
Stefanie @ Calledhis.com
at (10 years ago)So glad to see young women I can relate to working in ministry. You are awesome and God is our KING! 😀
Joy Skarka
at (10 years ago)Thanks Stefanie! I’m glad you found my blog. I’m going to go check out yours =] Stay tuned because I will soon be launching me new website! joypedrow.com
Misty Brown
at (10 years ago)Very nice article. God is in control. It can be hard to give up control but He knows what is best for us and we have to trust in Him and His ways. We must take off the crown and let Jesus be the King that He is.
joypedrow
at (10 years ago)Hi Mindy! Glad you visited my new site. You are completely right – God is in control. Thanks for the comment!