God’s word to you today:
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God … (Acts 20:28, NIV)
“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” (Acts 20:22-23, NIV)
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! (Acts 20:29-31, NIV)
Dying to self
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24, NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, NIV)
Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15, NIV)
“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24, NIV)
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24, NLT)
Dying to self is
The world sends a deafening message:
• “We are living in an ‘uninterrupted march toward
Our old self has unbridled
• God gives us desires as good reminders … but Satan turns these desires into terrible
• “I would finally be happy if I just had what my neighbors have.”
• “I’m tired of comparing myself to others and always coming up short.”
• “I know I shouldn’t be drinking this much during the day, but I can’t stop.”
• “I know I’m alienating those I love, but I also know I’m right and they’re wrong.”
• “It seems like I can’t drive anywhere without encountering an idiot behind the wheel.”
• “I value my co-workers based upon what I think I can get from them or how they can help my career.”
• “Whenever I try not to look at porn on my phone, my willpower loses.”
• “I work hard for everything I own. What’s wrong with wanting more and more?”
What death to self does not mean
• It does not mean that God
• It does not mean that you should hate
What death to self means
•It means you die to your
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. (Galatians 5:19-21, NLT)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. (Galatians 5:24, NLT)
• It means you stop grasping and start
“Death to self means releasing all our desires, our reputation, and having our way with other people. Everything.” (Dallas Willard, Life without Lack)
• It means you
“Try to hold onto your life, clutch it, center everything around it, and you die every time. But if you die, you will live.” (John Ortberg)
Dying to self is a huge
It’s
“What has my sinful self ever given me?”
“My old self is killing me anyway. Might as well throw it away so it can die.” (John Ortberg)
It’s God’s ultimate
You have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. (Romans 8:12-13, NLT)
Dying to self is not scary … it’s
What do you need to die to?
Additional Notes:
Prayer of Abandonment
Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)