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Thursday, January 14 2016

The beginning of the year is the season for self-improvement. This is the season where we challenge ourselves to become a better person by either getting slimmer, stronger, smarter, wealthier, or more spiritual. However, the key to becoming a better person is learning how to focus less on oneself and more on doing something to make the lives of those around us better. There is a catch however. This will require us giving up a part of our lives, our time, and our money. This requires us using our talents and abilities not just for our own sake but for the sake of others as well. This is going to require us saying “NO” to ourselves and “YES” to something greater than us.

Mark 8:34-36 NIV

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

It was quite common to see Jesus surrounded by crowds when He dwelt on earth, people would follow Him everywhere. Some followed Him out of curiosity while others followed Him because they felt threatened by His popularity, the sought the opportunity to kill Him. However, most of the crowds followed Him because they wanted to improve their lives. Jesus on the other hand, calls the crowd of self-improvement seekers to Him and in essence tells them: following me around to see what I can do for you is not enough if you really want to improve your lives. Jesus told them they would have to learn to deny themselves in order for them to become better people. They would need to say “no” to themselves and say, “yes” to Him and to becoming a better person.

To deny yourself means to say “no” to yourself so you can say “yes” to something grater than yourself. Being part of the crowd that seeks to become a better person is not enough to make us a follower of Jesus. It is not enough to attend church or sing praises to Jesus. If you really want to improve your life, then you will need to learn how to just say “no” to yourself and “yes” to Jesus. Self-improvement just like following Jesus is about denying yourself by placing the needs and wants of others above your own. Jesus is not trying to take anything away from us; on the contrary, He is offering us the opportunity to save us from ourselves.

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