"If God gave it to me, it's mine. I can do what I want with it."

No, the truth is that it is our to that Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours lose, ours to let go of- if we want to find our true selves, if we want real life, if our hearts are set on glory.

Think of the self that God has given as an acorn. It is a marvelous little thing, a perfect shape, perfectly designed for its purpose, perfectly functional. Think of the grand glory of an oak tree. God's intention when He made the acorn was the oak tree. God's intention for us is "... the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Many deaths must go into our reaching that measure, many letting-goes. When you look at the oak tree, you don't feel that the "loss" of the acorn is a very great loss. The more you perceive God's purpose in your life, the less terrible will the losses seem.  

Elizabeth Elliot-"Passion and Purity"