It's Not About YOU!

I just listened to a sermon by Todd White called 'It's Not About YOU'! It was amazing.

Here is the gist of it...

If you have declared yourself a Christian and are choosing to follow Christ...this life is no longer about you. It doesn't matter what you've gone through in life, nothing compares to what Christ did for you.

If you're saying 'yes I am a Christian' then you are saying 'I die to myself'. Well what does dying to self look like?

-You see somebody on the street with a cane...you go up to them and pray for them to be healed. Why? Because Jesus commands us to heal people.

-You want to watch a TV show that promotes nothing good.....you don't watch it. Why? Because it does not bring you closer to Christ.

-You have an opportunity to tell somebody about Jesus at work but you could lose your job....you tell them anyway. Why? Because Jesus commands that we tell people about His kingdom.

You're having money problems and you know specifically that God is asking you to give money away to the poor. You choose to give it. Why? Because you do what God asks AND you choose to trust Him with everything.

You love people even when they are mean to you. Why? Because we are called to love EVERYBODY, no matter what.

There are a million more examples...you should be giving away a lot to the poor and serving them. You shouldn't be judging people. You shouldn't care what people think of you. You should be giving all of your day to God and not just some of it....etc etc etc.

Now I realize all of this is a list of 'things to do'. It's not a matter of trying harder. Why? Because by your own strength, you will fail and the devil will destroy you. BUT we have an AMAZING Holy Spirit who can help us to die to ourselves. EVERYDAY we need to be BEGGING the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more like Christ. It's not about trying harder, it's about being transformed. The more the Holy Spirit transforms us, the more we will do as Christ asks.

We should be totally free of ourselves. If you're free of yourself, you won't care what people think of you and when people do think negatively about you, you won't care. Why? Because only Christ matters. WE don't matter anymore.

So ask yourself the tough question...do you REALLY want to follow Christ? Not half-heartily....FULLY. Because if you read the Bible, following Jesus means a LOT of sacrifice. Sacrifices are burned. Are you prepared to be burned? Are you prepared to die to yourself? Will you give up EVERYTHING for Jesus? Because if you don't give up everything, you can't be his disciple.

You decide.

DENIED!

As I sit here, a struggle is waging on my heart. There is a TV show that I absolutely love but I know I shouldn't watch it. It is called Pretty Little Liars. The reason I shouldn't watch it is because it does not bring me closer to Christ but only draws me away. The show stands for so many things I don't agree with in real life (betrayal, lying, murder, abuse, gossip, etc.). Often I think I can watch a show, disagree with the message of it, but still enjoy it. Wrong. I thought I could watch and not allow it to affect me negatively. Wrong. Most of the time I would watch and not agree with the message, but still be left with feeling bad about myself because I don't look like the girls on the show. Also, even though I didn't agree with the message of the show, just by watching it, I am inadvertently supporting it. 

A few weeks ago, I decided I would no longer watch this show. At the time the decision seemed easy because the show wasn't on air yet. (The 4th season began last night). Then last night hit and I was reminded that the show was starting up again and I thought 'I could watch and not being negatively affected'. But the verse Luke 14:33 kept coming to mind - In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

I tried to justify that verse by looking up other versions which talk about 'everything' being possessions  'EXCELLENT' I thought. If it talks about possessions then I can watch! But then this came to mind:

Matthew 16:24 -  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Well, what is denying myself? It's giving up things I WANT in order to serve Jesus. Sometimes things are easy to give up for Jesus and other times it is more difficult. When I choose to give up things of this world that I want in order to serve Jesus, I am denying myself. If giving up everything was easy, it wouldn't be hard to deny myself. 

It amazes me when I meet people who have freely given up the things of this world. I really struggle with this! Sometimes I want to buy more stuff and not give to the poor. Sometimes I want to watch a TV show or movie that has a message that goes against Jesus' message. Sometimes I want to be lazy and not work hard. Sometimes I want to judge people and think of myself as better than them. Thankfully, despite my downfalls, I am forgiven, and the Holy Spirit helps me to deny myself. It is a process that will always be in motion, but I want to get to a point when I can deny myself more each day!

Please consider Jesus' words above. They are strong words. You can't be half-hearted. You're in or you're out.