Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross [b]daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Luke 9:23 (NKJV)
We live in a world where we are cultured to stand up for ourselves. We must walk in confidence and the supreme understanding that we are valued and validated. This is not what God’s Word says.
This last week my small group Bible study got into this conversation. What does it mean to deny yourself? For many years I thought that meant being willing to admit my shortcomings and my need for a Savior in my life. For practical application I thought the goal was to realize how incredibly imperfect I am and seek confidence in who Christ is (rather than who I am). That’s not the goal.
The goal of self-denial is not merely to realize and admit when you fall short, but to no longer desire to be right. There is nothing righteous in me (Romans 7:18). Why seek something that scripture says isn’t there. We are ONLY righteous through Jesus Christ. The only thing in me I can have any confidence in is found in Jesus… not me (1 Corinthians 1:31). Here’s a challenge I’m working on right now. If you have a disagreement with anyone… and the subject at hand is simply your preference, deny yourself. Allow the other person’s preference to win simply because you refuse to fight for yours. See what happens.