Denying Self And Following Christ
You know, I was thinking. In Luke 9 the writer has Jesus talking alot about self denial. We must put our desire aside to follow Jesus but what does this really mean. I believe it boils down to this simple acrostic:J - esus
O - thers
Y - ourself
When we find ourselves in a situation that we must make a decision about what to do I believe we need to ask: "What action would best serve Jesus"? Then we can ask: "What action would best serve those who are around me"? Then we can ask: "What do I need"? Jesus never told us to ignore ourselves, He said to deny ourselves. He didn't command us to purposely inflict pain in our lives, but if there is pain because of the cause of Christ or in serving the needs of others then that is part of the cost. Some even confuse self denial with ignoring my needs. Jesus cares about ALL of our needs and even most of our wants, but WE need to put those things in proper perspective of the big picture which is furthering the Kingdom Of Heaven!
I do not write this because I have great strength in this area but I am convicted over my weakness! I do not do a good job with this but through the Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit I can strive to become the man God wants me to be. Be blessed beyond belief today.
posted by Doug E. Pudge @ 8:08 AM
4 Comments:
I love the acrostic!
There is some tough stuff in chapter 9, but then we should rejoice in our weakness!!
Sometimes we have to make some tough decisions and they all may not be well received!!
As Jesus said in verse 5, "If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them."
You know, I always thought D. E. P. was somewhat acrostic...
Poetic
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