#115 DENYING SELF 9-10-26
Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). To deny yourself means to say “no” to the part of you that wants to live independently of God. Even when we love the Lord, the flesh still pulls us toward our own desires, our own understanding, and our own way (Romans 7:18–20; Galatians 5:17).
I am often my own worst enemy. The Bible speaks of three powerful influences that pull us away from God: the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:16; Ephesians 2:2–3). The world pressures us from the outside. The devil deceives and tempts us. And the flesh pulls at us from within. It can be especially dangerous because its desires can feel so natural that we mistake them for what we truly want.
Paul understood this struggle. He described wanting to do what was right while finding another influence pulling him toward sin. Finally, he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Then came the answer: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). The answer to our inward struggle is not greater confidence in ourselves. It is greater dependence upon Christ.
But following Christ requires a decision. Jesus did not say, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him follow his heart.” He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Christ supplies the strength, but we must surrender our will to Him.
Think about Peter. On the night before Jesus was crucified, Peter was absolutely certain that he would remain faithful. When Jesus warned His disciples that they would stumble, Peter boldly declared, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, yet I will never be made to stumble” (Matthew 26:33). Jesus told him that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:34). Peter could not imagine that he was capable of such a thing.
Yet later that night, after Jesus was arrested, Peter stood in the courtyard of the high priest. A servant girl recognized him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” Peter answered, “I do not know what you are saying” (Matthew 26:69–70). Another person recognized him, and Peter denied Jesus again. Finally, those standing nearby said that his speech gave him away. Peter began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” (Matthew 26:73–74).
Then the rooster crowed.
Luke tells us something that breaks the heart: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Peter remembered the words of Jesus, went out, and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75).
Peter had denied Jesus by saying, in effect, “I have nothing to do with Him. I do not know Him.” And there is a remarkable lesson for us in that painful moment. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves in much the same decisive way. We are to say to the old way of living, “I have nothing to do with you anymore. I belong to Jesus.” Paul said, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). We are to “reckon” ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).
This does not mean that temptation disappears. Every day, the old desires can try to rise again. They whisper, “Take care of yourself first. Get what you want. Do what feels right. You know what is best.” But Jesus calls us to answer those voices with a simple “no.” We deny ourselves by choosing the will of God over the desires of the flesh.
Look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what was before Him. He knew the suffering, rejection, and cross that awaited Him. Yet He prayed, “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Earlier, Luke tells us that Jesus “steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). He knew where obedience would lead Him, and He went anyway.
That is what denying yourself looks like. It is saying, “Lord, not my will, but Yours.” You choose His way when your way seems easier. You forgive when you would rather hold a grudge. You tell the truth when lying would benefit you. You resist temptation when nobody else would know. You stop trusting in your own understanding and lean upon the Lord (Proverbs 3:5–6).
Denying yourself is not self-hatred. It is not thinking that you have no value. Quite the opposite. You deny yourself because you have found Someone greater than yourself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The Christian life is not about making ourselves stronger so that we can live without Christ. It is about becoming more dependent upon Christ every day.
So perhaps our prayer should be simple:
“Lord Jesus, teach me to deny myself. Teach me to say no to sin and yes to You. Help me to take up my cross daily. When my will fights against Yours, teach me to surrender. Help me to follow You wherever You lead.”
The cross may look like death, but Jesus said, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). That is the paradox of the Christian life. We lose the life we were trying to control, and we find the life God intended us to have.
Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Jesus. The doorway may look like death, but on the other side is real life.
(Luke 9:23; Romans 7:18–25; 1 John 2:16; Ephesians 2:2–3; Galatians 5:17; Matthew 26:33–75; Luke 22:61; Romans 6:6–11; Luke 9:51; Luke 22:42; Proverbs 3:5–6; Galatians 2:20; Matthew 16:24–25)
BDD
