I made my castle tall
I built up every wall
This is my kingdom and it needs to fall
I want You and no one else
Empty me of myself
Until the only thing that's left is
More of You
Less of me
Make me who I'm meant to be
You're all I want all I need
You're everything
Take it all I surrender
Be my king
God I choose
More of You
Less of me
More of You
This life I hold so close
Oh, God I let it go
I refuse to gain the world and lose my soul
So take it all I abandon everything I am You can have it
The only thing I need is
All to You I surrender
All to You my blessed Savior
I surrender all
Colton Dixon's seventh-place finish on Season 11 of American Idol was one of the most surprising and memorable Idol cuts of all time, but it was only the beginning for the artist. Last year Dixon released his debut full-length album, A Messenger, featuring the hit songs "You Are" and "Never Gone." That album takes its title from the Bible passage John 13:16: "Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him."
Dixon has returned with a new set of songs on his sophomore album Anchor, including the lead single "More of You." In addition to hearing Colton sing these very worshipful and vertically directed new songs at Creation Northeast, I had the opportunity to speak with Colton about "More of You."
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.
A fun fact from the writing side is that this was the last song we wrote for the album. I went into the studio and the guys I was writing with said it was the last day to get whatever we hadn't said out on the table. I remember thinking "what is that?" I started going through my notes from Winter Jam. What I love to do when I get a song or lyric idea on tour is jot it down in my notes and visit it later. I was re-visiting those notes, and the idea of "More of You" kept resurfacing.
The best way I know how to explain is from the analogy my youth group leader shared with me growing up in the church. Think of two cups of water. One cup is you, the other cup is God. The water represents anything you're putting before God. It could be entertainment, your family, or any of your favorite things. The water in God's cup simply represents Him. What God wants to do is fill us up with Him. He wants to draw us closer and closer to Himself and for us to be more and more like Him.
What I've come to realize is that if we as believers want to truly experience the full potential of God's power and potential in our lives, then we have to empty our cups first to make more room for Him. That hit me like a ton of bricks. I remember thinking "it is time for me to start emptying my cup or cleaning out the toolbox," so to speak. That's been my challenge to myself, and it turned into the idea for the song. It was obvious that God was part of the song from the moment we started typing out lyrics.
