Abandonment to God (Christianity)

It is not that everything is renounced, so that the soul becomes brutish; everything is renounced except God's will. The soul does not only forsake outward things; it also forsakes itself. Self-abandonment or self-renunciation is not abandoning faith or love, for example, only selfishness. There will be temptation, specifically on those points to which renunciation relates. All inward supports are removed and one is made to live only by faith. These trials are an inward purgatory but suffering is for no longer than is necessary. One must beware of assuming that inward crucifixion is complete, there may still be reservations, despite the sincerity of the act of consecration. One is tried by God and exposes one's self to illusion and injury if one concludes prematurely that one is wholly given to the Lord.

Once having given one's self to God there is no taking back - what is given away is no longer at one's disposal. Abandonment is in great faith, not listening to reason or reflection, allowing one's self to be entirely guided by God. The outward and the inward self are in the hands of God, so one forgets one's self and thinks only of God. Then the heart is free and contented. There is a continual loss of one's own will in God's will. All natural inclinations, however good they may appear, are renounced so one can choose as God chooses. The past is forgotten, the future left to providence, the present given to God.