SELF DENIAL
Luke 9:23-27
Devotional- “Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (V. 23)
The act of bringing forth anything that is worth having in this world, demands the virtue of self denial. This is because any attempt you want to demonstrate to achieve anything good will be resisted. The devil will use many things to stop you from achieving the goal. The enemy will often use 'self' to stand against self. That is why you must learn to deny self . Self is the Adamic, canal and sinful nature in man which always stand against what is right (Romans 7:18-20, Romans 8:7-8).
Jesus said, if anyone will be My disciple he must deny himself first. To deny self is to refuse to follow the way of the flesh. The flesh or self will always want to stand against people at the point of achievement because man unconsciously feed himself daily with lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life (1 John 2:16-17). So, what we have fed it with, makes it strong to always stand against our desire to succeed. There is therefore a strong need for self to be denied to be able to achieve your goal. It is when you need to study to face an interview that you will be tired etc.
Friend, bringing forth good things in life demands that you learn the act of self denial. Telling your body 'you cannot have my attention now'. Why is it when the word of God is being preached that you feel tired? Why is it when you need to fast that you will feel hungry most? Though, some days, you don't eat and you don't feel it. When you learn to deny self, you will be able to create your desires and success. Peace!
PRAYER: Lord, give me the grace to always deny myself to achieve good things.
“YOU CAN’T BE A TRUE CHRISTIAN WITHOUT SELF DENIAL”
