If you want to go to the next level in your life it is going to require sacrifice. In fact, you have to give up to grow up.

The only reason you are not where you want to be yet is because there is something holding you back. And until you give that thing up you will not get there. For every new level we go up we have to be willing to let go of the previous level. As Einstein taught us, you can’t keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result.

We have to understand that sacrifice is not about losing…it’s about gaining. The reason we let go of something is to grab ahold of something better. God’s plan for us is to always be advancing and growing into our potential, but that requires letting go of good in order to get to great. We give up to grow up.

The Apostle Paul understood this principle. Look at how he communicated it…

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV) 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

Paul was saying that if you want to grow up you have to put away the childish things…or the things that hold you back from growing up. So, what are you holding on to that is holding you back? And remember, for every different category of your life there will be something you have to give up. For example:

• Relationships: You may have to give up pride that is keeping you from putting others first.
• Finances: You may have to give up some money to bless others so God can bless you more.
• Leadership: You may have to give up control and learn to delegate or it will hold you, the other person, and your organization back.
• Business: You may need to give up some profit in order to invest back into your business growth.
• Personal: You may need to give up that addiction that is destroying your future.

I could go on and on with examples, but you get the point. Until you are willing to surrender you will not succeed. It’s a temporary loss for an eventual gain. You have to keep your eyes on where you’re going not where you are. When your vision for the future is greater than what you’re experiencing in the present you’ll be willing to give up in order to grow up. The problem is most people don’t have a greater vision of the future for their life. They are stuck in the present challenges and don’t see their potential.

My challenge for all of us is to see your future self as great so you’re willing to give up the good. See your future as abundantly full of God’s provision and purpose for your life. Once you’ve done that, now identify what is holding you back from going there. What do you need to give up in order to grow up? When you know what you’ve got to surrender you can now go to work on eliminating it from your life so you can grab ahold of something greater.