The phrase “deny himself” so characteristic of the life of a true Christian is found in the scriptures only in one of Jesus’ sayings to His disciples; “if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me – Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23.
The Greek verbs translated deny also means “to say no”. Luke version of Jesus’ teaching adds that we should do this daily. Let us find out what Jesus means by denying oneself.
Jesus calls upon His followers to reject the natural/human inclination toward self. The first step is to surrender and submit our will, our affections, our bodies and our lives to God. We must be willing to renounce self and lay down our lives if required. God says through Peter in 1 Peter 4:1-2 that “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God”. See also Matt. 16: 24-26, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Thess. 4:1-8, 1 John 2:15-17.
Jesus taught self-denial to His disciples not only with His words but also by His actions. Notice that His call to self-denial comes immediately after predicting His own sacrificial death. He is the supreme model of the self-denial to which He calls others. He even denies Himself of any urge to avenge Himself or to threaten His persecutors for what they had done to Him. A good example is Philippians 2: 5-11. Consider this also “my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will”. See also Mark 8:31-34, 10:42-45, Luke 9:21-22, John 13:1-17, 2 Cor. 8:9, 1 Peter 2: 20 -24 and Matt. 26:39.
Self-denial could be explained as denying oneself of what the sinful nature demands from us from time to time. In Rom. 8:5-6, we are told that “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death but to be Spiritually minded is life and peace”.
As natural people, it is always easy to embrace things that please us, that are convenient for us, that are beneficial to us, satisfy our emotions, appetites, etc. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 says that “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body”.
Self-denial covers every area of our lives. Some things are not actually prohibited by the Bible; but they may not be edifying and helpful to us. There are some other things that are good in themselves but when we prayerfully weigh them, they may not be necessary for us. One of such things that are not edifying is consumption of alcoholic drinks. The Bible may not specifically rule against them but they do more harm than good. Apart from the fact that the Bible warns against being drunk with wine, our actions and utterances under the influence of alcohol can never give glory to God. Sometimes too, it is injurious to our health (cf Ephesians 5:18, Proverbs. 23; 29).
In our secondary school days, we learnt about scale of preference in Economics. We were told that the opportunity cost is the alternative forgone. We also deny ourselves of some basic things of life when we have capital projects such as education of our children, real estate, etc. we save money to achieve a number of things.
St. Paul threw away all his earthly qualifications and other achievements because of his calling and relationship with Christ, so that he could attain the resurrection of life in God’s heavenly kingdom, Philippians 3:3-11. In Heb. 12:2, we are told that Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame because of the joy that was set before Him. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 9:26-27 mentions that he disciplines his body and brings it under subjection in order to make it to heaven.
Many people invest their money into many things of less benefit instead of investing in God’s kingdom and in the lives of other people. In Matthew 13:44-46, Jesus told two parables that touched on making wise choices. In the first one, He said, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid, and for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. In the second one, He said, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The kingdom of heaven is worth giving up all other things for.
– Having known that we shall be in heaven eternally, it is therefore necessary that we begin to consider what we can give up or deny ourselves of, to secure it.
Jesus also said that certain things cannot be achieved without praying and fasting. We will need to deny ourselves of food and drinks from time to time to seek God’s face and be divinely empowered for such exploits – Mark 9; 29. This reminds us of Queen Esther who when requested to secure the salvation and release of her fellow Jews, told the Jews to fast for three days. We all know how effective it was – Esther 4:13-17.
In other to please God, which is our supreme duty, self-denial or personal sacrifice is required. Whatever we give either to advance God’s kingdom or to assist our neighbours that costs us nothing is not acceptable. King David said “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing. “So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them – 2 Sam. 2: 24.
The Bible says in 1 John 3:16-18 that “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in need and in truth!! Self-denial is fundamental in every relationship; couples must be able to take it on board if their marriages must thrive. We are to make personal sacrifices for our spouses and this is evident in the ingredients of love as itemized by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 13:4-7.
St. Paul also mentions that if our rights will constitute a stumbling block for our weak brethren, it is necessary to ignore such rights – 1 Cor. 8:12-13.
CONCLUSION:
Christians should see self-denial as a virtue. Often times, we do certain things to maintain status quo, which are not necessary. For instance, when we already have enough number of automobile and we go for more. Such monies could be invested in the kingdom of God and all these things hinder us from running our race. Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom. Why? Because it is very easy to put one’s trust in riches and therefore despise God’s word or become arrogant – Mark 10; 17-27. There are things we keep or purchase that we don’t need. They could be given to those who will celebrate them or be sold and the money given to the less privileged or the church.