Self

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭23‬ KJV). The cross was meant for death, and one who was sentenced to death by crucifixion went through a whole lot of excruciating pain due to sin in their lives. We are all guilty of sin in one way or another, and we will stand before the judgment of God. However, through the blood of Jesus Christ and our faith in the finished work at the cross, we are washed, cleansed, and cleared from our sin, every bit of it. Jesus did not bear His own sin, for He did not sin, but He took our sins to the cross. That's how much He loves us. Jesus spoke of a cross that every believer should bear daily, and in doing so we must deny ourselves. We cannot try to serve ourselves and try to serve Christ also. It just doesn't work. Self will be our greatest battle because self does not like to be denied. Self will not freely allow itself to be crucified, nor does it desire to suffer or be persecuted in anyway. It is selfish. We will have many trials throughout this life, and many times self will get in the way of God fulfilling His will in our lives. It is until we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive in God, that we will recognize the trials in our lives as being tests to see how much more of self is in us. We'll never know the weakness of a chain until it is pulled upon. Likewise, we will never know our own weaknesses in our own lives, the sin that is there, until God allows something to pull on us. God bless you. Amen