Dear Self | Say Yes

Dear Self,

I used to wonder if I would be strong enough to die for my faith.  Would I turn aside when fear clutched me?  Or would my eyes stare straight ahead despite my trembling fingers?  The questions wrestled inside me until I found an answer:  I think - I hope - I would be brave enough.

But in some ways, dying for Christ doesn't seem as hard as living for Him.  The decision to stand up amidst persecution would take one "yes".  Living for Jesus takes a hundred "yes"es every day.

That's why this letter is for you, dear self.  I'm tired of serving you and turning away from the "yes"es Jesus calls me to proclaim.  I'm tired of you having the throne of my heart.  It's not yours to take.

Let's go back a little ways.

When we decide to let Jesus reign over our lives, do we really know what we're getting into?  I didn't.  At six years old, I only understood that I needed to be saved from hell - and that was through Jesus.

But I didn't know that it went beyond that first "yes".  Being a Christian is so much more.  It's not just saying a prayer once and living in our own strength.

I've read this verse a million times, but it became real to me for the first time this week.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

- 2 Chronicles 7:14

Humble ourselves?  Turn from our ways?  Is that what's God calling us to do?  Jesus gave us the answer in Mark.

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

- Mark 8:34-36

Every day, I fight against this truth.  My self bitterly resists any attempts to sacrifice my own pride and live for Someone else.  It whispers in my ear, "This doesn't matter - live for yourself!"

But am I willing to deny myself and follow Jesus?

When the options are reading a novel or spending time in prayer, do I deny myself?  When I can give a sarcastic remark or offer honest love, do I deny myself?  When I just want "me time", to run away from the world, to delete an email, to slack on my priorities, to complain about life, do I deny myself?

Do I follow 1 Corinthians 9:27 to discipline my body and bring it into submission so that I am not disqualified by preaching without putting the truth into action in my own life?

As Christians, we are called to live continually offering our "yes"es.  Yes, we will deny our comforts to bring love to others.  Yes, we will do hard things to bring Jesus glory.  Yes, we will share the Gospel with whoever God brings our way.  Yes, we will smile despite our circumstances and accept whatever may come because we know that we're not alone.

Is that the life I'm living?  Or is self still sitting on the throne of my heart?

A secular site I read today admitted that our world's focus is on "me me me."  It wrote that people are self-centered and self-serving, doing only what's best for them.  This problem is obvious to almost every person in society - but what's the solution?

Our world is consumed by self, but we are not called to be of this world (1 John 2:15).  We're called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.  Even if we're tired or unworthy or feel like a failure.

Jesus has a perfect, beautiful plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).  Yet we cannot achieve the wonderful ending of a story without accepting the plot twists and catastrophes that come.  That's the answer:  Are we willing to let go of ourselves and turn from our ways to embrace the life He has for us?

Dear self, my life doesn't belong to you.  It never did.  It belongs to Jesus, and I'm going to live a life of "yes".  He's in charge.  You have permission to step down and flee.

I want every moment of my life to count for Him.  I want to surrender all of myself.  My life must be set-apart, as a bride waiting eagerly to hear her lover's call.

Every decision - what I eat, what I wear, what I read, what I type, what I do - should be chosen to lift Christ up.  That's my life calling.

Even if I never have the chance to die for Christ, I still want to live for Him with every breath I take.  I want to know Him, I want to hear His voice, I want to know Him more (In the Secret).

Right now, that might look like pausing in my busy day to sing a song of worship.  Or it might be encouraging a sibling when I really just want to be alone.

Jesus is enough.

Recently, I read a book that encouraged me in this area.  Your Dream. God's Plan.: Are You Longing for Something More? reminded me of the beauty that comes when we sacrifice our dreams for something so much bigger.  One quote summarizes the message.

When God interrupts our lives with His dream, it can be hard for us to want to step forward to embrace that calling because we see the sacrifice instead of the reward.

- Tiffany Smiling

We must let God interrupt our lives.  Yes, this involves sacrifice, but if we don't let go, we'll miss out on the greater calling and reward that He has for those who love Him.

But dear friend, will you deny self and turn to Jesus?  Was your decision to become a Christian the only "yes" you offered, or will you continue to pour out your "yes"es?  If you want to know Him, are you willing to humble yourself and turn away from your ways?  What does that look like in your life today?

I hope to hear from you in the comments.  Let's encourage one another to throw aside every hindrance to seek Him.

As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

- 2 Samuel 22:31

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

- Psalm 37:5 

~♥~

photo credits: Josiah Chad