Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. – Matthew 16:24
To take up our cross and to follow Jesus requires a daily surrendering of one’s self. Humans are prone to stray. No matter how much we claim to love God, our sinful nature will always want to do as it pleases. From the moment of our new birth into Jesus Christ, surrendering becomes a daily exercise for the rest of our lives on earth. With the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are thrust into a conflict between the divine Spirit of God and the carnal self. Paul describes this ongoing struggle in Romans 7:14–25. Daily we have to ask God to grant us the grace needed to surrender our lives into His hands. If left to ourselves, we would do the opposite. Without grace and a surrendered heart, it would be impossible to even move that cross and to set our minds to even think about trying to. Who wants that kind of burden anyway?
When Jesus says to you or anyone who wants to be His disciple, “deny yourself and take your cross and follow me”, He is not asking you to have one foot in and one foot out doing your own thing. He is asking you to put down our own plans, desires, and dreams for His. The only way you would be able to take up the cross, anyway, is if you lay down what’s already in your hands; there wouldn’t be any space and you wouldn’t have the strength for both. It’s either one or the other. The scripture tells us that “no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” – Matthew 6:24. So upon considering these words of Jesus Christ, you have to choose who you will serve and whether or not you will do it wholeheartedly.
Self-denial is the willingness to deny oneself possessions or status in order to grow in holiness and commitment to God. Jesus called upon those who wish to be His followers to reject the natural human inclination toward selfishness. He calls us to, as Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7-8, “count whatever we have gained as loss for the sake of Christ.”
For those of you who have yet to fully give yourselves over to Christ, this is your invitation. God is calling you to deny your whole self, all your motives and impulses for His sake. You may say to yourself that you cannot do this thing for your plans sound much better than what Christ is asking you to do. Might I invite you to consider these things? We were made for Christ, and there will come a day when all our worthless pursuits in this world will be brought low, and only what we do for the sake of Christ will stand.
Father help us to know that there is no eternal value in the things of the world. All these earthly things moths can destroy, and thieves can break in and steal. Give us an eternal perspective. Give us the grace needed to surrender our selves to you wholeheartedly. Give us the grace needed to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow you, for in the end only what we do for you will last. Amen.
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Angelisa is a Jesus enthusiast, Worship leader & Christian youth leader. She considers herself to be the old-fashioned type of girl who loves spicy food and belly bottom laughter. Among her passions are singing, working with children, and encouraging others.