In the last episode - episode 319, when I mentioned how our response to God’s sacrificial love and mercy for us should lead us to surrendering ourselves to God - to be his holy, living sacrifices by dying to self. I felt I should explain what “dying to self means”.

So today, we will be learning about what it means to die to self.

To "die to self" means to surrender our own desires, egos, and self-centeredness to follow Jesus Christ and submit to God's will. It involves putting aside our own selfish ambitions, pride, and personal agendas in order to live in obedience to God and serve others selflessly.

When we die to self, we no longer seek to gratify our own desires but instead submit to the authority of God and follow His commandments.

You need to understand this truth - that the sacrifice of Jesus delivered us from the penalty of sin and it is only our daily death to self that will deliver us from the power of sin.

Sin will continue to lord over our lives (our sinful nature) when we prioritise our own desires over God's will.

However, when we choose to daily die to self and let God take control over our will, prioritising His will and plans over our own desires, His Spirit will daily empower us to overcome sin.

1. Luke 9:23-24: "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.'"

2. Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Romans 12:1-2: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

5. Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

6. Colossians 3:5: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

As we daily choose to deny our own desires, thoughts, and behaviors that are contrary to God's will and wholeheartedly surrender ourselves to follow Christ and live according to His teachings, we continue to be vessels for God's purpose and are able to serve others in love and humility.