“From then on Jesus began to clearly reveal to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer injustice from the elders, leading priests, and religious scholars. He also explained that he would be killed and three days later be raised to life again. Peter took him aside to correct him privately. He reprimanded Jesus over and over, saying to him, “God forbid, Master! Spare yourself. You must never let this happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are only filled with man’s viewpoints and not with the ways of God.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely reject and disown your own life. And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice and lose your lives for my glory, you will continually discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will forfeit what you try to keep. For even if you were to gain all the wealth and power of this world—at the cost of your own life—what good would that be? And what could be more valuable to you than your own soul?” (Matthew 16:21-26 TPT)
“Jesus said to all of his followers, “If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for my glory, you will discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep. Even if you gained all the wealth and power of this world, and all the things it could offer you, yet lost your soul in the process, what good is that? So why then are you ashamed of being my disciple? Are you ashamed of the revelation-truth I give to you? (Luke 9:23-26 TPT)
“Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you yield to the life of the Spirit, you will no longer be living under the law, but soaring above it! The behavior of the self-life is obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior. Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God! But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless. Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus Christ have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self-life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah. If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives.” (Galatians 5:16-25 TPT)
DISCLAIMER: Self-denial is not self-hatred or self-abasement. It is not creating ways to put myself through self produced abuse and agony. It is not a way of paying for my sin and degradation. It is not demeaning and diminishing myself on a life pilgrimage to appease an angry God and earn my way back into his good graces. It is not denying myself the joy of experiencing the blessings that were bestowed on me by my Father and restored to me by the finished work of Christ.
For centuries there have been many who have spent their lives in needless self sacrifice and degradation from what I believe to be a flawed understanding of self-denial. Many have chosen to do such things as…
…Self inflicted bodily pain;
…Self directed vows of poverty and isolation;
…Self selected “journeys” through hazardous conditions purposely inflicting physical, emotional, and mental pain;
With the intent of somehow paying for their sin and producing “holiness.”
Any of these activities, if directed by the Holy Spirit (even though I find it difficult to believe that they are needed since Jesus suffered and died for us), may bring some degree of spiritual growth. However, when these activities are self-driven religious duties or rituals intended to bring forgiveness and produce holiness, they do not result in the desired “salvation.” They are simply man’s attempt to reach out to God, when all the while he has already reached out to us.
I believe that at the heart of much of what religion has defined self-denial is a faulty view of “self.” If I view myself as some sort of depraved, miserable, worthless worm-like being then I will try to punish myself in order to pay some sort of penance. I will be driven to somehow pay for my current state of unworthiness and earn my way back into the good graces of the one who I am desperately striving to please. While I may be doing this with sincerity and dedication, denying myself in this manner will become a process of self abasement and abuse. While self-denial is a choice which produces a form of self inflicted suffering FOR Christ, it is not this!
Ok Eric, if these are the things that self-denial is NOT, what do you think it is?
DEFINITION: Self-denial is the process of forsaking my own aspirations and agendas as I submit to the higher calling of my Creator while continuing to recognize and embrace my self-worth as one who is created in his image and likeness. It is unlocking my true worth and value by acknowledging someone greater than myself and submitting to his direction for my life. This is a self chosen process, under the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit, which creates the inner pain of self sacrifice, submission, and humility. As in other Kingdom life principles and practices it works from the inside-out.
Tomorrow we will keep rolling from…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 413: Discerned Suffering: Suffering FOR Christ: The Pain of Self-Denial – Overview