Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23 NIV).

What does it mean to deny self, take up our cross and follow after Jesus? It means to turn away from our selfish ways and ambitions and humbly submit our will to God. This means we say no to our selfish desires and yes to the will of God. It is dying to sin daily and asking God to let His will be done in our lives. It is saying to God that what we want personally is no longer important. Instead, let us be totally consumed in fulfilling His will for our lives.

Denying self means not lashing out when others do us wrong. It means being patient in tribulation. It is longsuffering. We do not render evil for evil. Instead we patiently endure all things and we bless those who persecute us, we forgive them, and we pray for God’s mercy upon them. We pray that God will help them to become more like Him in character. We do not build bitterness, resentment and un-forgiveness in our hearts towards these individuals. Instead, we try to follow Christ’s example, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23 NKJV).

God sees everything and He promised to repay. The apostle Paul taught, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19 NKJV). Instead of retaliating in anger, let us entrust ourselves to the faithfulness of God to deal with our adversaries in justice while we pray for His mercy upon them.

When we deny self, we do not seek our own, but we give to meet the needs of others. We do this by showing love, kindness, compassion, in forgiving one another, in being patient with one another, in being non-judgmental, in being open and honest in everything we do, in being even tempered, and given to hospitality. We consider the poor and show them love and mercy. We pursue peace with all people.

To take up our cross daily means to die daily to sin and to the things of the world and be alive unto God. It means living every day for Jesus and putting the needs of others before our own.  Let us therefore humble ourselves, give our all for the glory of Jesus and, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12 NIV).

Let us use Paul’s life as an example of denying self and living only for God. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).