The Sacrifice of Self

If we as Christians and believers in Christ are serious about being all that God would have us to be, it is imperative that we learn and master the spiritual art of The Sacrifice of Self. The misconception in the church is still that sin is the problem. As I've stated on numerous occasions, when it comes to the church, the major problem is not Sin. The reason we embrace this notion is because the basis of our faith and belief is the fact that Jesus has already died for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1, Colossians 1). Of course this is not a license to sin (Romans 6), but rather it is a provision for the sin that, unfortunately, we as the children of God choose to inevitably commit. The Bible says that if you say you have no sin, the truth is not in you (1John 1). Therefore, whether we grasped this fact conceptually or not, the truth of the matter is that sin, regardless of the kind or type, is not the problem. The problem is Self. The reason why we can't surrender to the Will of the Lord and have His Divine Will fulfilled in our lives is because of our obsession and preoccupation with Self. Until we deal appropriately and effectively with our Selves, we will not be properly be positioned to facilitate a Divine Move of God. For this reason we must commit ourselves to The Sacrifice of Self.


Once again, the root of the problem is Self, not sin. What we must understand is that every sinful activity is rooted in the indulgence and promotion of self. Show me any sin that you want to identify, and I'll show you a person choosing themselves over God. However, if the Self is dead, if we've been crucified to the Self, then we have more capacity for the fulfillment of God's Divine Will for our lives. What's also dangerous about this is that a lot of the things that we do in the name of pleasing and promoting our Selves are, a lot of times, not overtly sinful. This is why we don't think it's a big deal. But what ends up happening is that as the indulgence of self continues to take root in our soul, when we're then challenged to surrender the self in order to make room for the execution of God's Divine Will for our lives, we don't have the capacity because we've been so conditioned to pampering and patronizing the Self. This saints has to stop. No, you may not be doing anything "immoral" or overtly sinful; but as I've already stated, if we don't learn The Sacrifice of Self, we will be ill-equipped to be proponents and participants of the Kingdom Move of God.


I want to challenge everyone, as I challenge myself, to examine yourself and take the time to identify where you (maybe even unconsciously) are engaging and indulging in activity that is geared towards the pleasing and promotion of the Self. One of the primary areas of Self-indulgence is food and eating. There's a reason why so many Americans, including Christians and people in the church, are overweight and not physically healthy. It's not just what we eat but how much we choose to consume. Needless to say, eating is not a sin. And I'd be surprised if many of us would actually fit the description of "gluttony". But (let me use myself as an example) foods like chocolate, sweets, candy cookies; even in moderation are designed to make us "feel good". We're not eating these things for their "nutritional value". Once again, is this wrong or sinful? No it is not. But is it catering to the Self, in most cases it is. That's why you have to examine for yourself and let the Spirit minister to you what areas for which you're catering to your Self.


We can make a long list of things for which we engage and many times over-indulge in, in order to cater to the Self: talking on the phone, watching TV, surfing the internet, shopping, video games. Are you getting the picture? Jesus said that if you're going to be His disciple, the first thing you must do is deny yourself (Matthew 16). Is this easy? No it is not, because we've been so conditioned to "stop sinning" and have ignored the detrimental spiritual effects of catering to our Selves in the midst of being moral. I pray that we will allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the areas for which we need to Deny our Selves so that we can be committed to the discipline of The Sacrifice of Self.