Jesus was very clear on what one must do to not only follow Him, but to also be His Disciple. Luke 9:23 , “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” The first critical step in discipleship is to get “self” out of the way. We must die to self. Galatians 5:24 , “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” This dying process is both a decision and life-long process (journey). This does not mean that when we “die to self” we become unproductive, inactive or unresponsive, nor do we feel ourselves to be dead to the world. Dying to self means that the things of the old life (before becoming a Christian) are put to death, most especially the sinful ways and lifestyles we once engaged in. We become transformed by replacing our past lifestyle with godly things. We find a good example of how to gain victory over “self” in the Old Testament. Here we find King Jo...
Clever, Missouri (Christian County)