Deny Yourself Every Day

In Luke 9:23, Jesus says that anyone who wants to follow Him must deny himself and take up his cross each day as he walks with Him. Those words reach a difficult place in us: our own will.

Not every desire should become a decision. Pride can try to direct us, and anxiety can push us toward responses we later regret. We may also defend habits that we know are pulling us away from God simply because they have become familiar.

Denying ourselves begins when we acknowledge what is happening within us without hiding it. We follow Jesus when we allow His will to carry more weight than what we feel in the moment. This may mean holding back a response that would wound someone. At another time, it may require admitting that an impulsive choice is being fed by our vanity.

Galatians 5:16 reminds us that this path is lived by the Spirit. Christ does not leave us dependent on our own strength. As we remain close to Him, we begin to recognize what needs to lose its place within us.

There may be a desire you have been justifying for some time. Bring it honestly before the Lord. Ask whether it is drawing you toward Christ or taking a place that should belong to Him.

23 And he said to [them] all, ‹If any› [man] ‹will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.›

16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.