“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.” Luke 9:23
In order to truly follow Christ, daily self denial and cross bearing are essential for Christians everywhere, in all generations. Why is this true? It’s a daily cost of discipleship. Self demands you let it have free rein and that you leave your cross on the ground. Yet, self-centeredness has no place in the life of the Christian. Children, listen closely. This applies to you as well as adults. Selfish ambition has no place in the church. The daily rise of self in the heart quickly becomes evident in self-centeredness, self-righteousness, self-promotion, self-sufficiency, self-will, self-worship, self-love, self-praise, and so on. It’s true that pride and self-love in all its forms have plagued the fellowship of the saints. Therefore, self must thoroughly be denied, so that true cross bearing and following can take place.
What does denying oneself mean? The Greek word Jesus uses for “deny” in Luke 9:23 is the same word He uses in Matt. 26:34 when he warns Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. It literally refers to affirming one has no connection with someone else. Peter would deny that he knew Jesus. It can also refer to self-sacrifice and setting your own interests aside, which applies in Luke 9. Though the concept of such sacrifice and interest sidelining may seem simple and easy, self-denial has consistently proven to be quite challenging. Have you found this true in your life?
What does denying oneself look like? It looks like living a life of mortification of your flesh and contempt for the world. Though your flesh would like you to be similar to and get along great with the world, as a Christian, you must have a different relationship with the world. Don’t love the world, or things like pride in it (1 John 2:15). You have been called out and set apart from it. Denying oneself also looks like refusing to indulge your fleshly appetite. It looks like learning to endure hardship.
God gives us a clear example of the damage the sin of self-seeking and self-preservation causes in the Apostle John’s words regarding Diotrephes in 3 John 9-10 “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.” Do you see the pride and arrogance in the heart of this minister, Diotrephes? He wanted everything the saints’ focused on to be centered on himself. He wouldn’t receive or share John’s letters to the church with them. In fact, he spoke evil of them. Further, Diotrephes wrongly excommunicated some members of the body who desired to welcome other brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, John would rightly call out his sin and challenge him when he came.
Considering this, you would do well to make the Apostle Paul’s words in Phil. 2:3-4 a daily reminder and practice in humility- “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.“ This is a command, Beloved, not a suggestion or pious advise. Why? Because we are to have and walk with the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5) together in lives that demonstrate humility and self- sacrifice like He did.
As you seek to do so, the gracious Holy Spirit brings about that sweet koinonia fellowship, that fellowship of friendship among the people of God that’s the opposite of being egocentric. He builds and brings about hearts to love and serve one another well. The Greek word for fellowship is derived from “koinos”, which means, “common.” Such Spirit wrought fellowship points you to and encourages you in sharing, having community, engaging in joint participation, sacrifice for the sake of others, and the giving of yourself for the common good, which are all part of godly walking and serving in the body of Christ.
I hope this encourages you and builds you up in your relationship and journey with God and His people today!
