DYING TO SELF




And He was saying to them all, "if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.   Luke 9:23
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.        Galatians 2:20
-For six days, Harley, my calico cat, has been trying to catch a moth.  Always out of reach, she has been relentless and somewhat obsessive in hunting it down.  This morning, it came to ground (or rather carpet), and I easily caught it and released it back outside.  
It amazed me how fixated she was on that moth.  But then again, it is in her predatory nature to stalk, kill and devour.  It is how her species was created to be, and I wouldn't want to change it.  She has an important role to play, a purpose beyond companionship, and that is to keep my home vermin free.

Human nature, it seems to me, sometimes serves only to get me into trouble.  Left alone to my own devices without the influence of God's grace, I am self-centered, negative and complaining, judgemental, egotistical and prone to perfectionism.  

But that is not what God has intended for me, or for anyone else.  As far as our human nature is concerned, human beings were created in the image of God, to reflect God's nature, which is self-giving, self-sacrificing and unconditionally loving.  When sin came into the world, Self replaced God in the hearts of humanity.  In a way, Self became our god.  
When we ask Christ to become our Lord and Savior, He insists on pushing Self aside and taking it's place.  Jesus called it denying oneself.  Paul describes in through the metaphor of crucifixion, dying to self.  However, the problem lies in that we continue to try to put Self back in control of our lives.  The ongoing spiritual journey we call sanctification is as much about is dying to self as growing in love for God and neighbor and in the likeness of Christ




Most Americans are familiar with the stories of pioneers crossing the prairies in covered wagons.  Into the wagons, they had put everything they needed to survive the journey and to start their new lives, as well as many things they valued from their former lives.  Along the trails, where the way was too steep or their wagons got stuck in mud, they found they had to abandoned many beloved objects because they were hindering their progress.  That's what dying to self is like.  We ask Jesus into our lives but continue to carry a lot of the old nature with us. To make progress in our spiritual lives, we have to give up those attitudes, values, behaviors and desires that slow us down on our spiritual journey.

Submission and sacrifice -- those are two key concepts in my own spiritual journey.  Submission:  choosing to place our lives under the care and leading of Christ.  Sacrifice:  choosing to give up something something of value to us for the sake of Christ and for the good of others.  It is a struggle at times, but that's when I remember that God loves us too much to leave us where we're mired down, and provides the grace to sustain us in our journey.

 Dying to self:  more of Thee, less of me.

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