I know that the hardest lesson that ALL of us have to learn, especially when we are trying to walk through our Christianity, is to “die to self”. There are numerous verses that all carry the theme of ways that we are to “die to self” such as Galatians 2:20; Matthew 16:24-25; Romans 6:6; Luke 9:23; John 12:24 and Romans 14:7-8.
What does those words “die to self” mean, really? When we ask God to come into our lives, then we have to look within. We have to look at our hearts and our minds. We need to really delve into the person that we are now and decide how to “clean out” and get rid of those parts of us that don’t align with what God wants from us. We also need to look at all areas within (our thoughts, our actions, our beliefs, etc.) that need to be pruned and thrown into the fire. You see, they don’t match what you have now become. You have become a new creation.
It’s not easy to do that, at all! It takes us being honest with ourselves and seeing the parts of ourselves that need to be changed in order to be a follower of God. The most perfect example that we have is in His Son, Jesus, who came and lived with us on Earth. He loved and rebuked and taught and healed all of those who came to Him. He taught us about perfect love through the actions that he took. He didn’t die on that cross for His own glory, but for God’s glory and He took on our sin, so that when we take up our own cross and follow Him, we can then be with Him for all eternity.
Whew! That’s a whole lot of stuff to unpack, but it’s actually simple, really. just not the easiest thing to do. We need to take up our own cross, recognize that we have our own scars, as well as have our own crown of thorns in order to follow Jesus. Jesus is the perfect role model that we could ever have in dying to self. He humbled himself and took on our sin. That’s completely powerful stuff, right there! It doesn’t get more powerful than that, for sure.
So, my question to you is this…. are you willing and I mean TRULY WILLING to look within? Are you willing to get rid of those parts of you that don’t align with what God wants for you as well as from you? When you do clean out all that old yucky stuff…. trust me, all of Heaven will rejoice!
What did I learn from this? I feel like I am a better human because I have gotten rid of things that I have no more use for. They just don’t fit into who I am now. Oh, trust me…I still catch myself (not as often as I used to, though), so I’m not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I’m still me, just an updated and better version, like Jennifer 2.0!
So, what can you learn from this? I know that you will be such a happier person when you let go of your old self. You will become a newer and better version of yourself. You will begin to look at things differently. The world won’t have changed, but you will be changed. It can still be a struggle to walk that path, just keep your eyes on Jesus. He will NEVER, EVER steer you wrong! What do you have to lose? You lose nothing and can gain EVERYTHING!
A Joyful Mission 