The Christian’s Passion
“Denying Oneself”
There is a tale of the great English actor Macready. Macready was once asked by a preacher; “What
is the difference between you and me?”
You see the actor appeared before crowds night after night proclaiming
fiction and people listened with delight.
The preacher spoke of the essentials and the unchanged truths of God,
yet, most listened with no passion upon their hearts. Macready’s answer was this, “I present
fiction as though it were true; you present truth as though it were fiction.”
Over the course of time the cancers of legalism, traditionalism,
denominationalism and faddism will choke the life out of a church. True believers do not want a church that has
only a form of godliness but denies the truth and power of God (2 Timothy 3:5).
It is a necessity that the
Jesus has this description of what is to be expressed in the child of God
who is passionate for Him, “If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself… For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save
it. What good is it for a man to gain
the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or
what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34-37) This is a very
powerful truth presented by Christ which enables the child of God to express a
life of passion for Him and it begins with “denying oneself.”
If there is anyone
who deserves our attention, our loyalty, our time, our money, our efforts, our
adoration, our devotion, our worship and praise, it is Jesus Christ. The Christian’s passion is to accomplish the
complete will of God for him and he must have a desire in his heart to die to
self-will. “Deny” (Greek aparneomai)
means to disown, disregard, forsake, renounce, or reject. The application is to subdue the flesh and
bring it under submission to the Highest authority.
This is not negative, such as denying oneself something, but rather it is
positive action. It is saying “No” to
self in order to say “Yes” to what Jesus Christ wills you to do. This enables you to let Jesus be truly Lord
of your life allowing you to enjoy the benefits of being a child of God. People all too often forfeit God’s best for
them by not denying self.
The apostle Paul knew
the joys, victories and blessings of denying self to achieve God’s will for
him; every child God has the same opportunities that the apostle Paul had. The key to accomplishing this is through
mortification of the flesh. The apostle
Paul exhorts the church with this, “For if you live according to the sinful
nature, you will die; but if by the Holy Spirit you put to death the misdeeds
of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). Paul also wrote, “Those who belong
to Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires”
(Galatians 5:24).
Do you have a passion
for Christ? Does it reflect a life of
self-denial to sin and the influences of this world? If not, sacrifice your life to Him, He
sacrificed His for you!
We pray the Risen
Christ is alive in YOUR heart today!
All
material copyright © CrossRoads Ministries.
Site maintained by Custom Computers & Services