March 24, 2022 - Jesus said, in Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Phillips translation puts it this way, “If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps he must give up all right to himself.” The denial of self, the giving up rights to self is one of humanity’s most difficult problems. It is hard for us to come to the realization that “it’s not about me.” To be sure, it is one of the hardest lessons there is for us to learn.
When we observe children, we are aware that one of their biggest problems is selfishness. They have to be taught to be unselfish. When you get right down to it, children can be little barbarians.
The tragedy is that selfishness is not exclusively the problem of children. It is something that goes with us as long as we live. In fact, I often wonder if it doesn’t become more dangerous as we grow older. You see, we adults learn various nefarious ways to cover up and hide our selfishness.
Selfishness never makes friends and selfishness never brings happiness. Jesus came into this world unselfishly to give himself for mankind. He was demonstrating that the best way is the selfless way of serving others. Lessons like “In honor prefer one another” and “Love on another” The words Jesus spoke in Matthew are still His demand. The question is are we willing to forsake self and follow Jesus and live His kind of life?
It’s something to think about... tbp
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