Dying to Self
As a result of the hyper legalism that most have experienced, Christianity has started to focus only on the soft, sweet, humanized version of God. We have fit Him into our understanding, but anything that leaves out a part of the nature of God is a false and incomplete religion. I will not settle for a God that is less than the reality.
The principle of "dying to self" has been painted over with the message of grace, but they can coexist. They are not at odds against one another, they compliment each other. We have been given victory through Jesus' blood over our flesh, the power to choose righteousness AND we have been given grace through Jesus' blood to sin, to choose our flesh, and then get right back on the horse. He has given us the miracle of moment to moment choices. One choice no longer defines our entire life.
But it is because of that insane grace and the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are called to righteousness. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." It is not a "mess this up and I'll strike you down" statement. I hear it as a plea, a "please take what I have given you". We have read the Bible, we have the tools we need, so it is up to us to choose righteousness, to choose the truth instead of the wishy-washy false grace that has worked it's way into Christianity. Grace is not an excuse for our sin, grace is not made for us to feel better about ourselves. I have found myself too many times saying "It's fine, it's covered by grace." Yes it is covered, but Jesus still paid for that sin. That specific sin. What I did added to the burden and pain on Jesus's shoulders that day. That is never fine.
I refuse to be a passive Christian that is just coasting along, believing in a God that is a one-dimensional picture of love. His jealousy and anger and standards for our lives is not even a little bit outside of love. If we think it is, then we have to expand our definition of love, not shrink God to fit into it.
This is a matter of life or death, and I believe that God loves us enough to be passionate about righteousness and truth. He is not just a god of grace and kindness (even tho He is. He is the origin of love, and He is the origin of righteousness. He is the origin of grace, and He is the origin of justice), He is the God of holiness and of beauty, that includes grace and that includes righteousness.
Psalms is my favorite book of the Bible because it demonstrates the relational path and process to righteousness. It is not a false striving or premature pressure that beats our hearts into submission; it is a relationship with God that evolves and grows from knowing God so completely that you can't help but love what He loves and hate what He hates. Dying to self does not mean that you suddenly become perfect, it means that you know that you are so loved and held by God that you don't have to worry about yourself. His love gives us the security to truly and wholly love others.
There is of course day by day choice in the matter, but once you have walked through the process with God, it does not feel like a foreign or uncomfortable choice. It feels like the path of least resistance. Maybe my flesh wants something different, but I feel the ease and purity in choosing to think of others over myself.
And even though there is a process, it doesn't mean that we don't have the ability to choose others right now. We are called to that as well. We have already received in FULL. Every bit of Holy Spirit or peace or whatever you pray for when you whisper "Increase in me." is as much as you will ever need. When we ask God for more, or to grant us heavenly peace or joy or patience (the list goes on and on), we are putting the responsibility on Him, as though we are ready and open vessels waiting for the moment that He decides to give us something good. The Bible says that He is already in me in FULL. He is already the Life in my lungs, the stirring in my soul, wanting to be heard and known and followed and loved. It is up to me how much I lean, how much I decide to give over.
That may sound contradictory to the "process" I talked about above, and that's because love is always the goal, even before it feels easy or before we feel ready for it. "Dying to self" isn't a linear process, it's not a destination that we are trying to reach; it is heart attitude, a reflex that we should be aware of and positioning ourselves in. It is saying "God I yield to your love, to your
I am still in my own journey with this, and everything that I think or believe isn't concrete. It will change as I change. The only final word on all this is the Bible.
The principle of "dying to self" has been painted over with the message of grace, but they can coexist. They are not at odds against one another, they compliment each other. We have been given victory through Jesus' blood over our flesh, the power to choose righteousness AND we have been given grace through Jesus' blood to sin, to choose our flesh, and then get right back on the horse. He has given us the miracle of moment to moment choices. One choice no longer defines our entire life.
But it is because of that insane grace and the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are called to righteousness. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." It is not a "mess this up and I'll strike you down" statement. I hear it as a plea, a "please take what I have given you". We have read the Bible, we have the tools we need, so it is up to us to choose righteousness, to choose the truth instead of the wishy-washy false grace that has worked it's way into Christianity. Grace is not an excuse for our sin, grace is not made for us to feel better about ourselves. I have found myself too many times saying "It's fine, it's covered by grace." Yes it is covered, but Jesus still paid for that sin. That specific sin. What I did added to the burden and pain on Jesus's shoulders that day. That is never fine.
I refuse to be a passive Christian that is just coasting along, believing in a God that is a one-dimensional picture of love. His jealousy and anger and standards for our lives is not even a little bit outside of love. If we think it is, then we have to expand our definition of love, not shrink God to fit into it.
This is a matter of life or death, and I believe that God loves us enough to be passionate about righteousness and truth. He is not just a god of grace and kindness (even tho He is. He is the origin of love, and He is the origin of righteousness. He is the origin of grace, and He is the origin of justice), He is the God of holiness and of beauty, that includes grace and that includes righteousness.
Psalms is my favorite book of the Bible because it demonstrates the relational path and process to righteousness. It is not a false striving or premature pressure that beats our hearts into submission; it is a relationship with God that evolves and grows from knowing God so completely that you can't help but love what He loves and hate what He hates. Dying to self does not mean that you suddenly become perfect, it means that you know that you are so loved and held by God that you don't have to worry about yourself. His love gives us the security to truly and wholly love others.
There is of course day by day choice in the matter, but once you have walked through the process with God, it does not feel like a foreign or uncomfortable choice. It feels like the path of least resistance. Maybe my flesh wants something different, but I feel the ease and purity in choosing to think of others over myself.
And even though there is a process, it doesn't mean that we don't have the ability to choose others right now. We are called to that as well. We have already received in FULL. Every bit of Holy Spirit or peace or whatever you pray for when you whisper "Increase in me." is as much as you will ever need. When we ask God for more, or to grant us heavenly peace or joy or patience (the list goes on and on), we are putting the responsibility on Him, as though we are ready and open vessels waiting for the moment that He decides to give us something good. The Bible says that He is already in me in FULL. He is already the Life in my lungs, the stirring in my soul, wanting to be heard and known and followed and loved. It is up to me how much I lean, how much I decide to give over.
That may sound contradictory to the "process" I talked about above, and that's because love is always the goal, even before it feels easy or before we feel ready for it. "Dying to self" isn't a linear process, it's not a destination that we are trying to reach; it is heart attitude, a reflex that we should be aware of and positioning ourselves in. It is saying "God I yield to your love, to your
I am still in my own journey with this, and everything that I think or believe isn't concrete. It will change as I change. The only final word on all this is the Bible.
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