Would you believe the key to an abundant life is actually to DENY self? In fact it is a prerequisite for being a real Christian. Here is what Jesus said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
When I was a young child in the Episcopal church the Lenten season meant giving up something for forty days. This was to serve as an example of denying self. I wanted to give up canned spinach, but no, it had to be something I liked: TV, candy, my unicycle riding, etc. I never understood how giving up a fairly trivial thing for forty days would make me a better Christian, but I guess it was a start.
What Jesus says is if we want to be more than a church goer, if we actually want to be known as His disciple, we must first deny our very selves and take on His identity. This is a pretty unpopular passage. After all, none of us like to give up stuff we’ve worked to accumulate. We certainly don’t like the idea of changing our life. But think of it this way. What if denying self meant giving up things we think bring us joy but don’t really?
- What if we gave up time wasters that don’t add any lasting value to our life and picked up fulfillment?
- What if we gave up worry and picked up peace?
- What if we gave up disagreeing with everyone and picked up understanding?
- What if we gave up bitterness and picked up forgiveness?
- What if we gave up despair and picked up hope?
- What if we gave up defeat and picked up a victorious life?
In other words, what if we viewed denying self as denying the things that fill up the day but don’t fulfill our lives? I think that is a large part of what Jesus is saying. Do what Jesus said: deny yourself and pick up His love and power. It is both an instant decision that you make and a life long process.
