To Deny Yourself

Many people deny themselves many things without actu­ally denying their “self.” The things they deny themselves ac­tually have the effect of strengthening their own “I,” and con­sequently they feel like they are better than others. But they have actually departed from Christ as the Head. That is why God exhorts us “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see.” Deut. 12:13. By nature we like to be seen. Therefore, Jesus strongly ex­horts us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assur­edly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in se­cret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Matt. 6:1-6.

“These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value serving only to indulge the flesh.” Col. 2:23 (Norw.). Any service to God that is done according to our own will and desires is of no value to God. It is only an indulgence of the flesh. You must have an intense zeal if you want to eradicate all of that stuff so that your body becomes a temple for the Holy Spirit. “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.” Deut. 12:2.

“Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” 2 Cor. 5:11. This verse is closely connected with the verses preceding it and the verses that fol­low. Of course, if a person wins other people, he gets an out­ward reputation, so there are various reasons why people are motivated to work with others. Paul was well known to God in what he did. For him, it was a matter of the heart, and he hoped that he could also be well known in other people’s con­sciences. He had no desire for their earthly possessions, but he desired to win their hearts for God. He knew the terror of the Lord, and he knew that one day he would stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what he had done in his body, whether good or evil. He had examined the motives of his heart and had declared a day of judgment against all self­ishness. Therefore he could say: “For the love of Christ con­strains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:14-15.

Why doesn’t he write “live for the others,” but rather writes “live for Him”? In practice, that is what it means. We do live for the others, yet he writes that we must live for Him. He writes it like that because in our labor for people we must never become their slaves. There are many people who have become slaves of men because they want worldly people to regard them as good Christians. As a result, they lose their connection with the Head—with Him who has died and was resurrected for them. “And not as we had hoped, but first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” 2 Cor. 8:5. We cannot give ourselves to people in the way they expect or demand, because then we will quickly be-come their slaves. Jesus had this mind: “Then I said ‘Behold I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’” Heb. 10:7.

When we come to Jesus in the same way He came to His Father, then He has become our Lord. And then we are able to hear what the Spirit speaks in our hearts so that we can give ourselves to people according to the will of God. Thus we are free from people even though we are serving them. It is God who works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure.