for jonny: An attempt at wisdom…Self-Denial

I'm pretty sure I need to preface this post, so here goes.... After reading Jonny's post, I felt the need to share the thoughts I recorded after talking with Anna earlier this semester (actually, this has been quite a hot topic in our conversation lately). This actually only hits on Jonny's topic a little, but focuses more on what we should be focusing on rather than being obsessed with gratifying our own desires and passions. Bon appetite!

Matthew 16:24—Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

What does denial of self really mean? What does it look like? Christ calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, forsake all, and follow Him. How do we obey this call?

Denying yourself means not simply relying on our “passions” to determine our paths…not just doing what we like, or what “feels right”. Instead, it requires a willingness to sacrifice ALL—“passions,” money, time, comfort—for the sake of Christ. This means crucifying our desires with Him if necessary.

Self-denial means that we don’t always do the thing we like. It means we don’t always spend all of our time with our girlfriend or boyfriend. It means we don’t always dedicate ourselves to our studies 60 hours a week to get all A’s. It means we don’t always go hang out with our buddies and party. It also means sometimes we do things that aren’t our favorite things, things that are hard or uncomfortable. We get up at 6 a.m. before class to have a quiet time, even though we didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. We share our faith, even when we don’t “feel like it”. We give up comfort, wealth, or security to be a pioneer for Christ.

To deny ourselves, we make a conscious choice to resist our selfishness and self-centeredness and follow Christ instead. We give up the good for the best.

In doing this, we need to see ourselves in truth. We need to ask God to show us what the truth really is, asking: how am I being selfish? What drives my decisions? What ARE my desires? How am I responding to them or being influenced by them? Upon understanding the truth about our motives, we must repent of our failure to deny self, and choose to serve God (alongside Christ) instead.

When Christ called people to follow Him, they were required to leave everything to do so: their boats, nets, occupations (Luke 5:11, Matt. 9:9)…their families and obligations (Luke 9:57-62)…anything and everything of value or cost was to be given up for the sake of the call of Christ. What are you clinging to that needs to be left behind in order to follow after Christ? What are you saying, “First, I must do…” before you follow Him? To what have you told Christ, “Anything…but THAT…”?