Dying to Self

Mark 8:34

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

What does it mean to deny yourself? When I think of what it means to deny oneself, I think we are called to surrender EVRYTHING. This includes our desires, motives, hopes and dreams, everything we have and are become wholly surrendered to the one who gave it all to you. If you’re a unbeliever reading this post please bear with me because this will make more sense as we go. When I decided to first follow Jesus I had the hardest time taking up my cross and dying to my myself. As humans with a sinful nature we are bound to naturally be selfish people. We want what’s best for us and want what satisfies us. That’s our natural nature, but what Jesus wants to do is transform our natural desires to desires that reflect his character. Jesus was a man who was, forgiving, compassionate, genuine, holy, righteous and serving justice, when needed. We on the other hand are unforgiving, quick to anger, sinful, unrighteous and fallen. By the blood of the lamb we are washed clean.

It is so easy to fall back into a selfish mindset and we can easily become caught in the ways of the world. Our culture is self-minded and caught up in what we can do for ourselves that we miss the chance to change the lives of others.  Jesus is the perfect example of a selfless lifestyle. He says on many occasions that He came not to be served but to serve. Woah. The son of God, who rightfully deserves to be served, dies to himself(quite literally) and devotes his life to serving people of all walks of life. Matthew 20:28 states, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If you take a minute to think about it, Jesus of all people to ever live, deserved to have people falling at his feet to serve him, but INSTEAD, he took the position of a servant…..Just let that sink in. Who are we to not serve other people? No earthly title or position you are given is even remotely close to being that of Jesus. Seriously, if the Son of God Willingly gave his life for the sins of every person who live and ever did live, why can we not humble ourselves to the point of servitude? We allow pride and entitlement to get in the way. We feel like we are too good to serve others or maybe you feel like you just deserve others to serve you. Well, the truth is, we don’t deserve it, we are sinful people in need of a savior.

I love looking at the disciples when thinking about what it means to truly take up or your cross and deny yourself. Jesus had twleve close buddies known as the discilpes. Now the desciples may have been the closest friends of Jesus but they still messed up and fell short of righteousness. Take Peter for example, he was a faithful friend to Jesus and still denied him three times and cowarded in fear when Jesus was arrested. But even though Peter made mistakes he came running back to Jesus and Jesus accepted him with open arms. Every disicple of Jesus had to die to themsleves in order to follow Jesus. Every day they faced criticism, hatred and danger. If the disciples had been following Jesus for themselves, they wouldn’t have made it that far. Instead they gave up everything for the Kingdom of God. Who are we to think we can hold on to what isn’t really ours to begin with? Just in case you didn’t know, everything you own is from God. If he gave it to you he can surly take it away.

The most amazing thing about following Jesus is that while I am dying to myself and serving Him, I am recieving such and overwheling sense of satisfaction. I feel fulfilled because I know I am fulfulling God’s plan for my life and that is such a beautiful thing.  In C.S. Lewis’s Book Mere Christianity, he says something so powerful, “Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with ever fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” Everything we are and have is Jesus’s, we own nothing becuase he gave us it all.

Daily I encourage you to surrender EVERYTHING you are to Jesus. Leaving absolulty nothing behind because when we fully deny oursleves and lose our lives, that is when we find true freedom and eternal life. You are not your own. Jesus has died so that you might find eteranl life in Him and through Him. You can’t just die to yourlsef once, daily I have to say I am dying to myself and letting go of everything I am. It will not be easy and sometimes we have to say it multilple times a day but keep doing it. Die to Yourself. Wholly surrneder and fall at the feet of Jesus.

In His Light,

Leann

* I have a song for y’all that is beautiful and talks about giving everythig to Jesus so go check it out. Link below.