Day 32 - Deny Yourself

Luke 9:23 - 9:27

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

If we are going to pursue the Kingdom of God as our priority, self-denial will inevitably follow.

We see self-denial modelled in Jesus right up to the cross.

Yet, it is often something we shy away from. We live in an instant gratification world where we don’t like hardship, and we're told we can have everything we want. But it’s not true.

The happiest people in the world are often not the ones who have everything they think they want. Often, great riches are found in self-denial – just not the riches we think we need.

Self-denial will grow us closer to Jesus, and isn’t that what we ultimately want?

What is one way you can practice self-denial to grow closer to Him?