What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up?
I generally think, “I’m tired and wish my alarm wasn’t going off at the moment.” Then I start thinking about what I need to do to get ready for the day. It’s easy to go through the day just focused on yourself and what you need.
It is very easy to let everything in your life be about you. We pay attention to how many likes did our latest post got or how many people watched our Snapchat story. We wonder if our friends hang out without us or talk behind our back. We hesitate to sign up for ITM events because we think something more fun might come up. When we take group pictures we look for ourselves first before look at anyone else. We spend most of our day focused on ourselves!
This week our focus is on “Die to Self Daily.” What does that even mean?
If someone is really overweight and decides they want to lose weight, what do they need to do?
The most simple answer would be “eat healthy and exercise.” In order to do that, the person needs to give up their desires for eating Big Macs and laying on the beach all day. They would need to give up some foods that they enjoy and eat things they may not like or do some activities they don’t want to. Even though Big Macs and candy bars taste good, they are not healthy and won’t help the person lose weight. Even though exercising may be difficult, it is a necessary part of losing weight.
In the same way, if you want to live for Christ, we can give you simple suggestions like “Read your Bible and pray.” But it takes more than that, we need to give up sinful ways.
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
To die to self, you must offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
You need to give up certain things. What that is may look different for each of us. That’s part of examining yourself and seeing what God reveals to you. If it is sinful, you definitely need to give it up! Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. When the Bible talks about the flesh, it means our sinful nature, that part of us that doesn’t want to do what’s right.
Sometimes we also need to give up things that aren’t necessarily sinful. Going on Instagram or Snapchat isn’t wrong, but there may be better ways you can use your time. 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Think about the things you spend your time doing, are they helpful? Do they build others up? If the answer is no, maybe you should consider spending less time doing them or giving them up altogether.
This isn’t easy! The verses in Romans talk about how we need our minds to be transformed. We naturally think about ourselves. It takes our minds being transformed for us to begin to do what is right. Paul talks about this struggle in Romans 5-7, how we want to do what’s right, but we just end up doing what’s wrong anyway.
If we try to focus just on what we can’t do, we will fail. If we make a list of rules that we must do to live for Christ, we will fail. We need to also think about what we should do instead. A person who is trying to lose weight shouldn’t just stop eating, they need to change from Big Macs to salads. They need to replace the bad with the good.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
As we deny ourselves what we want, we instead should be focusing on loving God and loving others.
What does all this look like in real life?
In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar makes a golden statue of himself and then makes a law saying that you must bow down and worship it every time the music is played or be thrown into a fiery furnace. There are a bunch of Israelites who are living in Babylon, they worship God, not idols and statues of kings.
When the music plays, everyone in the country bows down and worships the statue, except for three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They choose to die to their sinful nature (which was probably saying “it’s no big deal, just bow down and pretend to worship the statue and live to see another day. Because if you obey God and don’t bow down, you’re going to die!).
They remain standing when everyone else (including other Israelites) bow down and worship the statue.
Of course King Nebuchadnezzar finds out what happens. Daniel 3:13-18 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s reply is pretty intense. “We know God can save us, but even if he doesn’t, we still choose to obey him.” That’s what our lives should look like. Choosing to obey God and do what he commands regardless of what it may cost us.
You and I aren’t in situations where we have to worry about being killed for what we believe. However, it may still cost us to truly die to ourselves and live for Christ. We may lose some IG followers if we start posting Bible verses. We may have some friends who stop hanging out with us. We may have people who even make fun of us. Regardless of what it may cost, it is worth it in the end.
Matthew 16:24-26 says Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
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This is the fourth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.
