For weeks, I have shared about what it means to be born again in the name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. It is a beautiful experience to live a new life that was once plagued with perpetual darkness to now live in beautiful light, knowledge and victory. However, as I grew in my faith journey, I recognized that certain aspects of my former life were incompatible with this new path alongside Christ. Although some of these elements began to lose their appeal to me, there were many that I had to let go of.
Jesus Christ says to us in Luke 9:23 that whoever wants to be His disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Him. This statement from Jesus Christ could at first glance, sound daunting, but let us take a close look at this verse. The first thing I would love us to examine is the life of Jesus Christ: Who is He? How dare He make such a bold statement? Why would anyone want to be His disciple?
Well, Jesus Christ is the most accomplished man that ever lived on earth and still lives on in our midst and in heaven. He is the King of Kings, although He had a short life span here on earth – He accomplished so much within the life span of His ministry. As a new or growing believer, I highly recommend that you study His life and ministry. The ways He handled different life matters were so fascinating and exemplary in my opinion. Therefore, when He says we should deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily – He sure knows what He is talking about. He was not one to get into physical altercations with people, even if they tried. Oh! Many people tried my Jesus Christ. People like the Pharisees pushed Him to the wall to just get a reaction from Him but He never gave them that satisfaction. He daily showed us what it means to deny ourselves, He modeled self-denial every single day. He showed us what it looks like to live with humility, discipline, and unwavering purpose. Therefore, when Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him daily, it is a call to greatness, power, it is a call to be just like Him- undefeated. The bible tells us that He has gone into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers have been made subject to Him – I Peter 3:22. The bible also tells us that Jesus is the radiance of the Glory of God and the exact imprint of God’s nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins. he sat at the right hand of the majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3) This pedestal is so high and entails living a sacrificial life, which we see throughout the life of Jesus Christ. I share these verses with you so you can have a glimpse of the kind of life you have been called to live as a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So what does it mean to deny ourselves? In my opinion, there are layers to denying ourselves; it first starts with
A great sense of self-awareness:
It starts with knowing those things we are inclined to do, the things that excite us, the things that satisfy us, and the traits and tendencies that make the core of our existence. This awareness is also progressive because as we grow, we evolve or become aware of certain traits that may have always been there, lying dormant. Once we identify these traits, the next step should entail:
Aligning These Traits with Christ’s Example:
Putting them side by side with the nature and traits of Jesus Christ; once we’ve identified our inherent traits, the next step is to compare them with the nature and life of Jesus. This process of comparison and contrast helps us discern which aspects of our behavior and mindset are in harmony with Christ’s. I, for one, was pretty short-tempered before I came to Christ, but as I recognized that this character trait did not align with the character traits of Jesus Christ, I had and have to do away with it. Doing away with my short temper is the last step or phase in denying ourselves.
Do Away With the Non Christ-like traits identified:
One of the key words in Jesus’ statement is to deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily. This self-denial is a daily routine that we must engage in. LOL, as I write this paragraph, I sense the Holy Spirit highlighting my love for sleep. Oh! I love to sleep, my mornings are usually plagued with me snoozing my alarm until the last minute. My days off? You cannot begin to imagine the amount of sleep I get. This is isn’t Christ-like; the bible tells us that Jesus Christ woke up early in the Morning and retreated from the crowd to go pray- Mark 1:35. So what would denying myself look like in this regard? I shall forsake sleep and its pleasures and wake up early so I can spend ample time in prayer with the Lord daily. God help me.
More examples of what self-denial have looked like for me: I am a big lover of music and my playlist used to be filled with songs by secular artists, songs that did not speak about the goodness of Jesus. Looking at those songs in retrospect, many of the lyrics were sad, sung by sad people, which just made me a lot sadder. I remember a season as I went through a heartbreak – I indulged in one particular album by an artist whose last name is the name of a body of water. Oh! That album was stuck on replay, and all I did was soak my pillow with tears. It is different when I listen to spirit-filled songs. There is no way I’d listen to someone like Kim Walker-Smith or Victoria Orenze or Nathenial Bassey or Theophilus Sunday and be sad. If at all I shed a tear, it is usually from the realization of the overwhelming love of God. So, my dear, I highly recommend that you reevaluate your playlist and add some good music to it if you do not already have that. Anyways, I deviated a little bit there; listening to those secular songs was pleasing to my flesh but not to my spirit. My spirit was dying as I allowed my ears to indulge in those nasty sounds. Unknown to me, my Spirit was crying out for help, it was losing sensitivity to the Lord, it was losing connectivity with heaven as I ingested sounds from the pits of hell. Therefore, I had to deny myself of those sounds. Although they seemed “lit” and enjoyable, I had to do away with them. It has been about 8 years since I made that decision to deny myself daily of secular sounds, and it has been bliss. My Spirit is in a better place than it used to be.
The list of traits and things we may have to deny ourselves is endless but I am confident that as you intentionally walk with Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost, He would pinpoint those things you need to deny yourself. Humanly speaking, it is hard to deny ourselves of these things but this is where the Holy Spirit comes in handy. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you and I promise you He will.
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