Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his classic work on discipleship, The Cost of Discipleship, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself.” The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ when he denied him: “I know not this man.” Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to him.”

This is the essence of what Paul was reminding the Galatian believers in a verse that is familiar to those who attend LBT regularly, Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  Quite frankly, I have noticed in my life, and the lives of many of the disciples that I come into contact with, that self-denial is at best a series of isolated acts of mortification, and at least, a pious attempt to make others think we are something for Christ.  To be crucified with Christ means so much more than just allowing ourselves to suffer in this world, or even to take suffering patiently, it means to completely take ourselves out-of-the-way and fix our eyes, our will, our very lives in the life of Christ.  I would like to challenge you this year to move toward that goal…