We often treat control like currency. We cling to it, spend our energy on it, and believe if we have enough of it, life will feel safe. But here’s the truth: control is an expensive illusion. And the cost is far higher than most of us realize.
The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” When we fight to hold control, we’re not only resisting life’s flow—we’re resisting God’s best for us.
Here are three hidden costs of control:
1. The Cost of Peace
Trying to control everything is exhausting. It steals rest, sleep, and calm. Anxiety grows because we’re carrying a weight we were never designed to bear. Peace comes not from control, but from release.
2. The Cost of Connection
Control often damages relationships. When we try to orchestrate outcomes or manage people, we shut down trust and intimacy. Real connection requires vulnerability—letting others show up as they are.
3. The Cost of Possibility
When your hands are full of control, they aren’t open to receive. New opportunities, creativity, and even joy can pass by unnoticed because control demands rigidity. Freedom, on the other hand, opens doors you never expected.
An Invitation to Trade Control for Trust
Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
When we surrender our grip, we’re not losing—we’re gaining. We trade fear for faith, exhaustion for peace, and striving for presence.
Closing Word
Control may feel safe, but it’s costly. Letting go is an act of trust that frees you to live fully in the moment, confident that God’s purposes will prevail.
💡 Want to practice release in a tangible way? Explore the Letting Go Journal in my shop—your guided space to write, reflect, and create room for renewal.
Rita Lynn Berry, EdS, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and the founder of NewVision Counseling and Consulting Services, PLLC. She is also the creator of the Journey to Me™ program and Mend n Muse Media™, where she shares tools and reflections that support healing, resilience, and self-love.