Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:24-26 | NIV84

To seek the Lord is to deny oneself, to lay down your own personal desires, and to follow after the One and Only true Way, that is, Jesus Christ. No matter where the Lord has placed you or what responsibilities He has bestowed upon you, remember to keep a humble, servant-oriented heart before Him. Remember, after all, you are serving the King of Kings and such things should not be taken lightly. When one serves the Lord God, they become almost completely invisible because God ends up shining through them and people are drawn to the Lord and not the person who is serving the Lord. Granted, there will be those who will seek after the servant instead of the King, and it is there within where temptation lies for both the seeker and the servant.

A good leader will always place the attention onto the Lord God and point people to Scripture for wisdom. Be wary of those leaders who like to stir up emotional feelings and who like to entertain you because if the attention is not placed upon the Lord, what’s the purpose of whatever it is they are doing? Ponder that question for a moment or two, seriously.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 | NIV84

Please also consider that you must be diligent in your own private spiritual walk. Such things like reading and studying Scripture on your own is vital to gaining revelation. Praying, fasting, and listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit in the privacy of your own home. It’s important to build yourself up in the Faith with the Word of God so that you may test and approve those who teach Scripture, and also, so that you may test and approve what you believe. Do you know why you believe what you believe? Can you confirm those beliefs with Scripture? Does that particular belief align itself up with the whole of Scripture? If not, such beliefs must be re-examined. Spiritual growth can happen quickly, but it also happens very slowly and often it is when time has passed before God begins to reveal the errors of your own heart or any misunderstandings you may have gained within Scripture. However, the only way to ever get past being spiritually immature, that is, only knowing the simple truths, is to spend time seeking God and putting aside those things that do not build oneself up spiritually. Sometimes it is good to stop being so busy serving here and there and return to your First Love. It is always better to sit at the feet of the Teacher than to be so distracted trying to please Him by performing empty tasks for all to see.

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:13 | NIV84

Fill your mind with Scripture not to build a foundation of Doctrine, but rather to build a foundation of humility and love. When one draws nearer to God, it is hardly ever a time of boasting, but rather a time of reflection. It is often a time where you discover who you really are and how wonderful God really is. Words are not suitable for the proper description of what transpires when you humble yourself before the LORD and come willingly to learn. It is both marvelous and breath-taking all in one.

Do not conform any longer 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. Romans 12:2 | NIV84

Consider that Moses, outside of Jesus, was the closest a man ever got to God. Moses spent the majority of his life in the presence of the LORD and do you know what Scripture says of him?

(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) Numbers 12:3 | NIV84

Now I find it rather interesting that this Scripture is noted in parentheses. Parentheses are often used for clarification inside of another explanation. In another words, it’s not the main attraction. In this particular chapter, Aaron and Miriam (Moses’ siblings) were questioning Moses’ authority and laying claim that they themselves had equal authority. In short, they were indirectly questioning God’s wisdom and in a round-about sort of way elevating themselves above the authority of God. A big no-no, but that’s for another discussion. The point here is to show that the more one-on-one time Moses spent with God, the more humble he became.

If you find someone boasting about their relationship with God, consider Moses. The closer you draw to Him, the greater your understanding of who God really is becomes. To glorify yourself is to take glory from God, or to elevate yourself and such behavior is the opposite of God’s character. Remember that Jesus, who is God, humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross, which you know was the most disgraceful way to die at that time. Jesus never took glory, and likewise, neither should we. God’s perfect love practically prohibits such behavior if one is truly seeking Him. God is absolute perfect Love, and although such Love is nearly impossible to resist, it also shines its light upon every impurity within your soul. His love invites you in, draws you near and you can’t help, but come in complete humility. His Grace and Mercy covers you so you can commune with Him and His Spirit opens the eyes of your heart so that you may gain a greater, spiritual understanding of everything around you.

Lay aside those things that do not draw you nearer to the Holy precious presence of the LORD. Throw them away, and come to Him. Just you, alone, come. Then sit, wait and be ready with an open heart. His Spirit will transform you entirely.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23 | NIV84

Have you ever read these Scriptures and became concerned about your own salvation? I have. In fact, these Scriptures kind of scare me, actually. I’ve heard all kinds of different explanations of what these Scriptures mean, but it seems to me those explanations didn’t really set my heart at peace. I’m not going to get into discussing doctrine and the different theories of where each denomination stands as I believe those are empty arguments. I will, however, remind you of these words spoken by Paul:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 | NIV84

So, all I really want to say is I believe in order to truly understand those words spoken by Jesus, but we must first look to the nature of God. Who is God and who is Jesus?

“God is Love.” 1 John 4:16b (NIV)

Scriptures says that God is love. That was easy. So, if I use that explanation of who God is, let’s take a look at what love is or what His character exemplifies:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a | NIV84

Wow… God gives of Himself to the benefit of others and is not about Himself one bit. Now, let’s look to who Jesus is.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3a | NIV84

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15 | NIV84

Jesus is God personified. Now what about Jesus’ character? What is He like?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

  did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

  taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

  and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:3-8 | NIV84

Jesus was completely humble and obedient to God. Jesus fully trusted God and loved God with all of His heart. So, what does that have to do with us? Jesus tells us to do the same:

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 | NIV84

Jesus basically explained that the entire Bible is all about completely devoting yourself to God and loving others above yourself… to become like Him. The Bible was written to teach us about God’s love and His Spirit helps enable us to live a selfless life as Jesus did. All throughout Scripture, God directs us to be humble, kind-hearted and loving. (I have only included two scriptures, but there are many more to consider).

Be completely humble and gentle;

be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2 | NIV84

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

   And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

   and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 | NIV84

God directs us to be obedient to His way and the most wonderful thing that He has done is that He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us to give us the ability to do such things.

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:10-11 | NIV84

So, what does all this have to do with Jesus telling those who prophesied in His name and performed miracles to depart from Him? I assume that those who were doing such wonderful things thought they knew Jesus, but ended up in fact not truly knowing Him at all. How can that be? I believe it’s connected to a prideful and selfish heart… two things that are completely opposite of who God is. God is humble and selfless.

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor. Proverbs 18:12 | NIV84

Pride and selfishness are traits that can be hidden under the surface of a person rather easily. In fact, they can be hidden so well that the person may actually come across as humble and selfless. Their self-centeredness can be wrapped up in the middle of performing good deeds for others, but the motivation of their heart is not ultimately for the good. The believer, however, walks in humility and within their heart, they are truly selfless. These traits tend to also be hidden as well, but they are not hidden to God who knows everyone’s heart.

I could include every single Scripture in the Bible that talks about humility, but I don’t for two reasons; one, I don’t know them all and two, there are too many. I believe there are a great number of people who proclaim Christ as their savior and do in fact, perform many wonderful and amazing miracles, who don’t really know who Jesus is, but that’s not really all that important. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know Christ because what’s truly important is that you know Him personally.

Lots of people get all up in arms about false teaching and whatnot and I’m sure there’s a good reason to, but I want to present just two Scriptures about such things to you:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Philippians 1:15-18a | NIV84 (underline mine)

“Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:28-29 | NIV84

You see, God can use His Word to reach those who are truly seeking Him in any way necessary. God’s Word is strong and powerful and will ultimately crush the false teachers and their malicious motives. Those who teach for selfish reasons will suffer in the end, but what you need to be concerned about is, where is your heart? Do you know the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you living a humble life in complete obedience to the Lord God?

You see, it’s all about Love and loving others. This life is all about something that does not naturally come from a self-centered human being, but if you humble yourself before the Lord, He will lift you up and give you the grace and ability to walk in His way out of His great love and mercy. God is all about helping others, but they must first humble themselves and seek Him wholeheartedly because without willingness, God will not impose Himself upon anyone. He is not a taker. He is a giver.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10 | NIV84

This life is about learning how to walk in love, humility and obedience to the Lord God.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8 | NIV84

I no longer want the disappointment to hang over my head and neither do I want to avoid or deny the truth. It doesn’t make sense that I behave the way I do and I want to fully release my heart to You. The action of releasing is, in essence, submitting to You a part of me that I have withheld or kept hidden. I have no control over tomorrow and if I were completely honest, I’d admit, I have no real control over any part of my life, except, that is, the choice to submit my heart wholly to You. Not parts of my heart, but all of it.

Why is it that when I find myself laying bare before You with all my hidden deficiencies exposed, that I somehow find a way to scoop everything back up, and try to remain in a self-preserved position, while putting this weight right back upon my shoulders? Why is it so, Lord? How can it be I think that I can be who I can never possibly become? I am so very flawed in every recess of my soul, that is, if I admit the truth. I have even found myself seeking my self-worth in the eyes of a man, in hope that somehow I will have achieved the impossible, that somehow, I have become good enough. But when I face who I really am and stand before You, I see myself, my flaws, my hidden darkness and I am undone. I will never be good no matter how I dress-up my imperfections or no matter how I compare myself to others.

I am a poor soul, one who is not filled with love, or compassion, or even one who is kind enough to be anything in Your eyes. My darkness shames me, my weakness overwhelms me, and I am unable to lift my head. I keep myself bowed down before You, not because I am humbled, but because I am unworthy. The worldliness from within me screams that I must experience self-worth to become anything worthwhile… I must be beautiful, successful, and intelligent. But when I look at You, all of that disappears like the morning fog in the afternoon heat, and who I really am underneath becomes visible, and I see how poor my spirit really is. 

Have mercy upon me, Lord. Please forgive my hidden flaws and those that are blatantly exposed. Help me to allow You to mold me into what You desire of me and not what the world finds acceptable. Provide strength to my spirit to face the pain of being broken and the truth of who or what I really am, and fill me with Your presence to make the impossible a possibility… the salvation of my soul. I am whole-heartedly Yours, do with me as You will.

Physical life is so very short and not enough emphasis is placed on fine-tuning the soul for readiness, or for the great birth that happens after death. The wellbeing of the soul is the most important focus every one of us should pursue. Anything beyond that is meaningless. Absolutely meaningless.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18 | NIV84

As you mature spiritually, there are certain traits that should become more evident in your life. Humility, peacefulness, and loving are a few, but submissiveness is one not often talked about. Living in a world where everyone is so concerned about their rights being violated and how they are entitled to be treated a certain way, submissiveness seems, well, outdated or old-fashioned.

Google defines the word submissive as “ready to conform to the authority or to the will of others; meekly obedient or passive”. Even the definition sounds kind of lowly and in a culture in which the world cultivates, no one is begging to be more submissive. It is rather, they are begging to be on top and to be well respected… and such things are happening among God’s people. This should not be.

Being submissive to the Lord and to those around you demonstrates a strong character deep within your soul and it demonstrates very clearly just how much you actually trust the Lord to take care of you. Do you know that there are some things that come about that are not necessary “good” by the world’s standards that the Lord has allowed into your life? Even things that seem, well, like you have walked outside of God’s blessing. Some examples might be an unfaithful spouse, the death of a loved one, an unrelenting boss, financial struggles or even, perhaps, sickness. The list can go on.

Can a person really submit to an unfaithful spouse? How about an overbearing, unrelenting boss? What about in sickness? Can you submit to the will of the Lord?

Doesn’t it seem like whomever is submitting deserves justice? Retribution? Vindication? Shouldn’t they just leave their spouse or quit their job? Show them all?

I don’t know, but what I do know is that if you are walking with the Lord, He will take care of you. He will open locked doors and carve a path through the mountain if need be. Whatever it takes to take care of you, He will do it. Just keep in mind that He is far more interested in your soul than anything else. If you can stop, be quiet, and really listen to the Lord, you will find that walking life in submission to Him is full of freedom and internal joy. When one submits to the will of the Lord (that will being to conform you into the likeness of His Son), He will supernaturally provide to you the strength and ability to do what He has called you to do… and that is to live a humble life before Him and men.

I know this isn’t popular thinking and it even goes against human pride, but if it keeps in step with the Lord God, then it is Good.

I don’t believe being submissive is a sign of a weak character when that person is walking by faith. I believe it demonstrates complete faithfulness and trust in the Lord God. God will right every wrong. You can be sure of that. He will do whatever is necessary to bring about justice as long as you allow Him to. Be mindful of when you’re walking in submission, that you’re doing it with a kind and gentle heart. It’s not always easy choosing to do the right thing, but somehow, someway, God will give you the strength to do so, but you must be willing to die to your selfish desires and follow Him wholeheartedly. Lay down your dreams and trust in His leadership. Submit your will to His.

God is good and His way is right. By submitting to Him, you will find freedom beyond anything your heart can imagine. This is God’s promise to you.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 | NIV84

I think one sign of a mature Christian is not reacting when an offense has been made. Offenses come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Small offenses can range from someone cutting you off in traffic or stepping in front of you in line at the store. It could be when your child speaks disrespectfully to you or disregards your advice. Other offenses could be when a co-worker puts you down to elevate themselves or when your boss overlooks the extra effort you put into a particular project. Bigger, more complicated offenses, could be when a spouse has been found unfaithful or when a parent or family member has been abusive.

Having a heart that isn’t easily offended means that when others don’t treat you with respect and listen to what you say, you still express love and kindness. It’s a place where you die to your selfish desires to want to be right and justified, but instead you love with compassion, understanding and humility. It’s a place where it doesn’t matter if others have wronged you or spoke evil of you.

Being able to pray for those who mistreat you is a sign of a mature Christian because it takes the focus off of your hurt and puts the focus on another person all the while knowing and trusting that your Heavenly Father will take care of everything for you… in His timing and in His way.

Being able to love those who have rejected you shows an internal strength that can only come by living a submitted life to Christ.

Having a broken heart is often a wonderful thing to experience because it presents itself as an opportunity to really look deep within yourself to find out just how much you have the ability to reach out and understand others through the eyes of compassion. When people mistreat you, it allows you to be in a place where you can understand how it feels for another person to be mistreated; it gives you empathy. A broken heart opens the door for a person to gain a greater love for those around them, but all too often, brokenness causes people to turn either inward or to become bitter. Sometimes people turn so inward that they seclude themselves from the rest of the world and hold their gifts and talents to themselves so closely that no one no longer receives any benefit from them. It’s sad, but it happens. Some who have not chosen to completely close themselves off from being hurt again, and who have allowed the hurt to mold itself around their heart, grow vines with bitter grapes. Then when someone comes in contact with them, they receive sour fruit from their lips or actions.

I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Romans 9:2-4a | NIV84

Paul was probably (outside of Christ), one of the most offended men in the Bible. He was hated by both Gentiles and Jews. Yet, all of those offenses never caused Paul to become bitter or to close himself off from the world. He stayed the course and allowed Love to fill him beyond his own selfish desires. He was rejected, cursed and even had his closest friends forsake him, yet he never… NEVER… gave up because he loved God more than anything and that love couldn’t be contained, so Paul continued to give it away. He gave it away for the sake of others so that they could grow and benefit from the wisdom God had given him.

You see, it isn’t about who has hurt you or even how many times a person has sinned against you.  You must remember that you haven’t been called to the Light to keep the light hidden under a bowl, but rather, to lift that bowl and let that Light shine through your life and the demonstration of that Light is love through your actions.

What makes early Christians so different from modern day Christians? One thing for sure, the early believers truly gave up everything to follow Jesus. They forsook homes, jobs and even their families. Now I understand, as an American Christian, such circumstances are not present in our daily lives and most, if not all of us have kept our families and jobs while following Jesus. However, what can be the same between us and our brothers and sisters of old is that we can have the same self-sacrificing love they so beautifully demonstrated. It is the art of self-denial… or not being so offended.

The society in which we live is self-induced. Everywhere one looks, everything is all about glorifying oneself in one way or another. The world we live in is very self-centered and when our personal space gets invaded or if someone else takes the lime light, often we get offended. No one wants to stand in the shadow, everyone has a voice and wants to be heard. Everyone loves to share their perspective on just about everything, including the Bible, God and so forth. It seems anymore, no one is there to listen, to care, to nurture, to love or to serve. Yet, Jesus lived His entire life to serve and so did Paul, along with all of the other disciples. They loved others because they truly loved God and most importantly, they allowed God to soften their heart by way of becoming selfless. They had a much greater understanding of what the purpose of being a Christian is all about.

When someone has offended you, how do you respond? Do you feel sadness in your heart for them? Do you grieve for their lack of understanding and love? A mature Christian can absorb quite a bit of disappointment and still continue on in love. Faith is paramount and the demonstration that one has faith is love that’s expressed through your actions. So when your spouse ignores your needs, says things that hurt or doesn’t uphold their end of the bargain, what will you do? When your child doesn’t heed your instruction or show appreciation for the things you do for them, what will you do? When your co-worker puts you under the bus to make themselves look good, what will you do? When people reject you because of what you believe, what will you do?

Will you love them in the face of rejection, pain and loneliness? Will you love them above your own pride and desires? Will you love them because God lives in you and you can’t help but to feel sorrow in your heart for how lost they are? Will you stand in the gap for those who come against you and love them with the love of Jesus Christ? Will you allow God to give you an unoffendable heart?

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21 (NIV)