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.