Sometimes God asks us to give something up that is not sinful, or even bad. Sometimes he asks us to give up something good. This has always been a struggle for me. I understand giving up sin, and want to do so, but have difficulty with the other things in my life He asks for. The singer Jason Upton, in his song No Sacrifice sings “To you I give my life, not just the parts I want to”. God doesn’t hate these things in your life any more than He hated Isaac.
Genesis 22:2
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Often it is the mindset of not wanting to surrender something to God, not the thing itself, that is the problem. God saw something in the heart of Abraham that caused Him to ask Abraham to kill his son. There was something that needed to be broken in him. Often God sees things in us and when He asks us to surrender or give something to Him and get it out of our lives, we need to be willing to submit to Him. If there is great resistance in our spirit, that is a sign that there is a problem with our walk with God that God needs to break. So the next time you feel convicted in some area that isn’t sin, check your spirit for resistance and submit to God. he knows how to bring about growth in your life like nobody else.