[298 words]
Who is your biggest opponent? Who gives you the most trouble? From whom do most of your challenges and struggles come? You may already have the culprit identified. Chances are, you may be wrong.
You likely have looked this person in the face today, probably more than once. It was that person looking back at you in the mirror. The greatest challenge any of us face is self. Really.
Think about Jesus’ fundamental instruction about following Him. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).
Most people never get past the very first requirement to follow Jesus: deny self. Our culture is certainly of absolutely no help. All day every day we’re told that self is to be indulged and satisfied and served and fulfilled. Self is moved to the front of the line and made the highest priority. Happiness itself, we’re told, depends on satisfying self; that is, getting what we want. And there stands the lonely voice of Jesus with His unwanted message of self-denial.
Think about it, though. Was Jesus successful? Was He happy? Was He contented and fulfilled? We often talk about being like Jesus and walking in His steps. Doing so doesn’t mean attempting to do what cannot be done, rather, it is achieving what is within reach of us all.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. “Christ did not please himself’ and so neither should we (Romans 15:1,3). The attitude that Christ had, which we are to have is that we “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3,5).
The first step to follow Jesus is the biggest; deny self.
David Deffenbaugh
Southwest Church of Christ
Oklahoma City, OK