And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. -Luke 9:23
I think it is safe to say that we live in one of the most selfish periods of human history, at least in modern history. Granted, mankind has always had a selfish streak. It can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden. But the culture of today is selfish and or self-centered to the extreme. It can most clearly be seen in all the selfies and social media squabbles of our day. Online anonymity makes it so easy to promote self at the expense of others. We can insult, bully and abuse others for the backward purpose of making ourselves look better without ever leaving the comfort of our safe and comfortable homes. It has created the perfect conditions for a storm of selfishness and self-centeredness, and we are seeing it unfold every day. There is an abounding sense of entitlement, and we excuse so many negative behaviors up to and including violence in some cases, all in the name of political correctness. It can be anything from being cut off in traffic to taking a different political view. Anything we do not agree with we label as offensive and try to silence it. Put simply, it has become all about me and what I want. The problem with this is that we all want something different.
I know. Here is another preacher on a soapbox bemoaning the terrible culture we live in. I get it. Perhaps every generation thinks the next one is going to be the worst ever. I am sure it was probably just as bad when Jesus walked the earth. Adults then probably thought the world was bound for destruction in their time, yet here we are two thousand years later still fighting the fight. But Jesus did address this selfish leaning in our nature in his day just as we must today.
Jesus put it about as simply as he could in Luke 9:23. If we are going to be His follower, the first order of business is to deny self. We then pick up our own cross. Self-denial is a fundamental part of the Christian experience. Of course, this statement is true on many levels and has many implications. It of course refers to the fact that salvation cannot be found in ourselves. We must look to Jesus, the author, and perfector of our faith for salvation. To try to attain salvation by the strength of self will leave us disappointed. All our good efforts cannot balance the weight of our sins. We must turn to Jesus for salvation. We need grace.
But this call to self-denial is more than just a call to salvation. It is a call to Christian living. Jesus himself said he did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). When asked what the greatest commandment was, he answered by essentially saying love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40). Everything else he said was summed up in these two principles. Love of self was not mentioned. In fact, much of his teaching was about how we are to treat others. It was not just His teaching. If you look at the fruits of the spirit in Galatians, each gift is basically to be used to build up others. Self-denial and service are a large part of what the Christian life is to be about. It is not just about what it does for us. After all, our greatest example sacrificed His all for others and even on the cross thought of others before himself.
Culture is not the only reason we find self-denial so difficult. The thought of denying ourselves the things we want is just not very attractive. Who wants to do that? I mean we all want what we want. Right? If we want to buy something, we do. If we can’t buy it, we order it and it can be delivered in some cases within the day, if not hours. If we want to go somewhere, we go. If we want to do something, we can make it happen. But this is the misconception. Denying yourself doesn’t mean you are denying yourself happiness or comfort. It is not a call to misery and isolation. On the contrary, Jesus invited us to come to him to find peace and rest (Matthew 11:28). He spoke of an easy yoke and light burden. He often rebuked the religious leaders of His day for putting extra heavy expectations on the people. His call was one of peace. It was a peace that would accompany self-denial.
You see, self-denial in the form Jesus taught was not a call to hide away and live the life of a hermit. It was a call to put yourself in His hands. To deny self means to seek God’s will for my life, not just settle for my own will. By doing so, you will find that what he wants for you is for the best and will ultimately bring you more fulfillment and more contentment than anything the world can offer. Granted, it is not always easy. In fact, it can be downright hard. But the end result is an abundant life.
There are many voices out there teaching that to deny self is to stifle your humanity. It is unnatural. You know what? That may be right. Our nature is selfish. But as believers, we are given a new nature. That nature is like that of Christ, which was “selfless” to the extreme. The voice tempting us to follow that old fallen selfish nature is not from God. It is from our enemy; who by the way, according to scripture was cast out of heaven for selfish reasons. He was the perfect example of where the love of self leads.
So it really comes down to which voice we want to follow. Is it the one telling us to come to find peace and rest or the one calling us to indulge our every want? Do we build for ourselves wealth in this world or build up for ourselves treasures in heaven? We must look beyond the immediate and look toward the lasting result. Remembering our eternal destiny is one key to fighting ourselves. Seventy or eighty years of self-denial do not seem so hard when placed next to an eternity in paradise.
So examine your heart today and see if there is any selfish bent in your nature. Pray for the strength to deny it. God will honor that prayer. To fail to deny self is to miss out on the many blessings that come with complete surrender to the Lord. It is to miss out on peace and rest. Do not miss what God has for you. Remember, nothing is impossible with God. So say enough to self and hello to a world of unlimited possibilities.
For more in-depth information on this subject, I invite you to come back later and check out my soon-to-be-released book titled Killing My Old Man. The projected publication is fall of the year 2023. Check back here for more information or go to www.gospelfoot.com.
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