“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.” (Matthew 16:24-25 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.” (Luke 9:23-24 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.” (Galatians 5:16-17 TPT)
Let’s pick up where we left off…
…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.
I can remember how wonderful I felt when at the ripe old age of eight I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Even though I had not done anything earth shakingly “bad” in my life, I knew there was something missing on the inside. Something within me was stirring and creating an internal yearning for more. When I realized that the “more” that I was longing for was Jesus, I asked him to come into my heart and save me. I am not sure that I even understood what those words meant, but I knew that he did it. I had an inner peace and joy that went beyond the comprehension of my young mind.
This newly found relationship brought with it a desire to learn about the one who was now partnering with me in life. I worked for my dad to earn the money to buy a Bible and dug right in reading all about Jesus. Within the next four years I was given the opportunity to preach in my Church on a Sunday morning (“Children’s Day”) and started a lunch time Bible study in my Junior High. This was a wonderful time, but it was also a time in which I learned that not everything about following Jesus is a party. It’s one thing to know Jesus as “Savior,” it’s a whole other thing to know him as “Lord.”
While salvation is free, being a disciple has a price tag. In the New Testament it is called “counting the cost”…
“As massive crowds followed Jesus, he turned to them and said, “When you follow me as my disciple, you must put aside your father, your mother, your wife, your sisters, your brothers; it will even seem as though you hate your own life. This is the price you’ll pay to be considered one of my followers. Anyone who comes to me must be willing to share my cross and experience it as his own, or he cannot be considered to be my disciple. So don’t follow me without considering what it will cost you.” (Luke 14:25-28a TPT)
Living the “Jesus Life” is an abundantly blessed life, but it is not without pain and difficulty. There are many who do not appreciate the life that you have chosen. I have gained far more than I have lost since that life changing morning fifty six years ago, but I have suffered loss. There has been loss of friends, loss of at least one job, and even loss of other believers who simply were not ready to become disciples.
“Suffering FOR Christ” involves making informed decisions that I know will bring pain. This is a form of self inflicted pain for the sake of following the one who made the ultimate sacrifice for the entire human race (even those who reject him). I think the hardest thing for me has been the battle to sacrifice my own drives and desires and submit myself to his desires for me. Many times the things that I desire are not the things that are best for me. It is not easy sacrificing my ways for his ways, and the ways of the Kingdom. However, the more that I humble myself and submit, the more he exalts me.
We live in a culture that is highly independent and thoroughly self centered. I want it my way, in my time, for my advantage. The idea of self sacrifice and submission went the way of the dinosaurs. Even mentioning the word “submit” is enough to spark a war within most homes. Counting the cost of discipleship does not rise to the top of the charts. But it is a number one best seller in Jesus’ Kingdom.
Bottom Line: Lord of all, or not Lord at all.
I am not talking about heaven or hell. I am simply saying that the fullest experience of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth in my life today begins with the willingness to put Jesus above everything, and everyone, in my life (including me). When I am willing to forsake all and follow Jesus a door opens that leads to the most fulfilling life possible now and forever.
Take time to ask the Holy Spirit to take you where he wants to take you in relation to…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 414: Discerned Suffering: Suffering FOR Christ: The Pain of Self-Denial – Submission