Deny Self

Deny Self

The greatest barrier to discovering all that God has for us is our preoccupation with self. We have become a self-obsessed society. It has become so bad now that even in the church many are erroneously advocating that the answer to most of the problems in our society is to heighten our self-love and feelings of self-worth. However, Jesus’ mandate in Luke 9:23 “If anyone desires to come after Me (i.e., be His disciple), let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” goes against the grain of popular culture today.

Our self-love versus our sinful nature

The Bible plainly teaches that we have an inherently sinful nature (Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:23; 5:12–13; 1 John 1:8). The apostle Paul cried, “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24). The Bible makes it clear that it is not a lack of love for oneself that causes problems in society; it is the obsession with self. In fact, this love of self will be one of the earmarks of the last days, leading to a host of other problems (see 2 Timothy 3:1–5). Scripture acknowledges the fact that we already love ourselves. Ephesians 5:29 says, “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it”. No, Jesus did not say that we need to love ourselves (we already do that). He told us to deny ourselves. To better understand the significance of this, we must first understand what that means.

Deny Self

The word denial means to repudiate; to disdain; to disown; to forfeit; to totally disregard. Denying self requires us to give up anything that we would want or seek that would hinder our doing the will of God. This does not mean that, if we want something, it is necessarily wrong. It means we must take our wants and desires down from the throne and place Jesus and His will as the governing power in our lives. There is room in each life for only one master (Matt. 6:19-24). If God is to rule in our lives, then our will must be made subservient to His. We must be willing to give up anything in life in order to please God. (Rom. 12:1,2; Matt. 6:33; Luke 14:25-33; 2 Cor. 5:14,15)

Bearing your cross means dying to oneself

Why did Jesus use this particular illustration? He used a radical symbol to get people’s attention. He was not simply speaking of an individual’s personal problem, suffering or obstacle, as many think. In that day and age, a person who was bearing a cross was walking to his death. The cross represents an instrument of death and total sacrifice. Bearing your cross means dying to self—laying aside your personal goals, desires and ambitions to take up God’s desires, ambitions and goals for your life. In essence, it is living life as it was meant to be lived: in the will of God. “Taking up your cross” means daily total sacrifice of self to do the will of Jesus.

Lose your life for Jesus

The next verse then helps us understand Jesus’ point and strengthens the application. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). The word for “life” in the original Greek was psuche, meaning “soul life”—literally your will, ambition, goals and desires. If a person holds his life so dear to himself that he wants to use it to please himself, do his own will, and accomplish his own purposes, rather than denying self and serving God, that person will in the end lose his life eternally. But anyone who loses his life for Jesus’ sake – gives it in service and sacrifice to God by denying himself, as described above – such a man will save his life by gaining eternal life.

There can be no greater or clearer teaching anywhere of the meaning of being a disciple. This is how our Master lived, so this is how His disciples must live. We must live lives of complete and total submission to the will of God.

Sources: https://harvest.org/know-god-article/requirement-2-deny-yourself-and-take-up-the-cross/

https://gospelway.com/topics/christian_life/deny_self-carry_cross.php