To really want transformation - Shift toward self-denial?

A shift toward self-denial is needed to reorder the six dimensions of the human self in subordination to God. Self-denial mustn’t be confused with self-rejection, nor should it be thought of as a painful, strenuous effort against one’s will. 

Instead, it is a settled condition of life in the kingdom of God, better described as “death to self.” Christian spiritual formation rests on this indispensable foundation of death to self and cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained. 

We must simply lose our lives—those ruined lives about which most people complain so much anyway. “Those who have found their life (soul) shall lose it,” Jesus said, “while those who have lost their life (soul) for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39, PAR). 

Our “survival” cannot be the ultimate point of reference in our world. We must not treat ourselves as God. This selfless life enables us to do for the first time what we want to do: be truthful, transparent, helpful, and sacrificially loving, with joy. Our lives are then caught up in God’s life, a way of “life and peace” (Romans 8:6) because we live from God. 

Yet there must be a realism to it. Otherwise one is in danger of falling into the same kind of cheery falseness that characterizes so much current talk of self-esteem. The necessary support for giving and forgiving is abundantly supplied by Jesus through the reality of the kingdom of God that he brings into our lives. He makes this available to us in response to our confidence in him. 

It is love of God, admiration and confidence in his greatness and goodness, and the regular experience of his care that free us from the burden of looking out for ourselves. What remarkable changes this introduces into our day-to-day life. 

At the beginning of my day, I commit my day to the Lord’s care while meditatively praying through the Lord’s Prayer and possibly the Twenty-Third Psalm. Then I meet everything that happens as sent, or at least permitted, by God. I meet it resting in the hand of his care. I no longer have to manage the weather, airplanes, and people.

DallasWillard

 

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