self denial
Scripture records a saying of Jesus Christ that is very plain and simple: in order to follow Him, we must disown ourselves, and in following, take up our cross daily.
But I've always been a bit confused about it. A friend of mine has the opinion that Jesus is speaking about denying our carnal nature here. This could be true, but I don't think it is because at other places Jesus differentiates between spirit, soul and flesh very precisely.
So what I am thinking about now is that Jesus really asks for self denial in its most radical form. He doesn't speak about denying a bad self and acquiring a good self. It's not about a reformation of self. It's really about rejecting ourselves for the sake of Christ and His priorities, values, goals, etc.
But ... this is hard. Not just a little hard, but really hard, so I want to check back with you before I go down that route completely and get lost in trying. If you think like my friend, that God just wants us to deny our flesh, do you have any scripture to support this view?
The most problematic thing about a radical self denial regardless of the self being ok or not, is that it seems to include our personal dreams, our self realization in this life, our hobbies, our loves, our likes and dislikes, and so forth. I mean, completely forsaking ourselves, for Christ, is it that which God wants?
If Christ were always with me, if He told me what to do and if He would take steps to sustain me ... then I suppose things could be different. But honestly, sometimes I feel near to Christ, and sometimes I don't.
And sometimes, self denial makes little sense. For example, I am single living with parents that are getting old. We share our household duties. We help each other, forming a unit. Should I now, as a christian bent on denying himself, pick up ALL household and garden duties and forget about my hobbies? Do I have to take care of my parents when they start to really get frail and such, and not let them go into a home for the elderly while I get myself a little appartment again? Sure, my father would love to stay at home and keep his garden, but honestly, even though I like to water the plants and help him out now and then, I don't feel like wanting to take over the garden completely. Same with household and nursing duties. But this would be the exact kind of thing that I think would be expected from me if I decided to follow Jesus wholly. Forget about playing computer games, forget about travelling, forget about simply enjoying life.
As you can see, the issue is very troubling for me. On the one hand I want to follow Jesus and do what I ought to do, on the other hand I don't want to forsake my seemingly normal joys. Is there something I'm not seeing?
But I've always been a bit confused about it. A friend of mine has the opinion that Jesus is speaking about denying our carnal nature here. This could be true, but I don't think it is because at other places Jesus differentiates between spirit, soul and flesh very precisely.
So what I am thinking about now is that Jesus really asks for self denial in its most radical form. He doesn't speak about denying a bad self and acquiring a good self. It's not about a reformation of self. It's really about rejecting ourselves for the sake of Christ and His priorities, values, goals, etc.
But ... this is hard. Not just a little hard, but really hard, so I want to check back with you before I go down that route completely and get lost in trying. If you think like my friend, that God just wants us to deny our flesh, do you have any scripture to support this view?
The most problematic thing about a radical self denial regardless of the self being ok or not, is that it seems to include our personal dreams, our self realization in this life, our hobbies, our loves, our likes and dislikes, and so forth. I mean, completely forsaking ourselves, for Christ, is it that which God wants?
If Christ were always with me, if He told me what to do and if He would take steps to sustain me ... then I suppose things could be different. But honestly, sometimes I feel near to Christ, and sometimes I don't.
And sometimes, self denial makes little sense. For example, I am single living with parents that are getting old. We share our household duties. We help each other, forming a unit. Should I now, as a christian bent on denying himself, pick up ALL household and garden duties and forget about my hobbies? Do I have to take care of my parents when they start to really get frail and such, and not let them go into a home for the elderly while I get myself a little appartment again? Sure, my father would love to stay at home and keep his garden, but honestly, even though I like to water the plants and help him out now and then, I don't feel like wanting to take over the garden completely. Same with household and nursing duties. But this would be the exact kind of thing that I think would be expected from me if I decided to follow Jesus wholly. Forget about playing computer games, forget about travelling, forget about simply enjoying life.
As you can see, the issue is very troubling for me. On the one hand I want to follow Jesus and do what I ought to do, on the other hand I don't want to forsake my seemingly normal joys. Is there something I'm not seeing?