The True Nature of Dying to Self
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. " (Matthew 16:24-25, NASB) I've heard this scripture repeated all throughout my childhood, growing up in a private school as well as in church. It's a commonly known quote from Jesus as he was describing the idea of dying-to-self in order to follow Him. As a teenager/young adult, I never really gave too much thought as to what this really meant; now I believe it was because deep down I wasn't willing to give up my way of life. I allowed my own stubborn devotion to my self interests to rob me of an important part of the process of following in Christ's example. Now that I just turned 31 years old six days ago, I find myself rethinking many of my choices that led me to this dark place in my life, and I can't help but wonder what might have happened had I gras