A Monday Devotional on Self-Denial (Flavel)

The English Puritan Thomas Manton (1620-1677) wrote a helpful treatise on self-denial. He based the treatise on Jesus' words from Matthew 16:24: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself..." (NASB). It's a longer treatise with some very helpful insight. Here's a paragraph that I marked up this morning. I hope it …

The Modern Dislocated Self (Wells)

The classical and Christian view of happiness, fulfillment, and meaning in life meant, among other things, living a life of self-control, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. But our modern therapeutic culture has a very different view of self, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning in life. People today believe that self-denial and self-control get in the way of personal …

Specific Aspects of Self-Denial (Brakel)

Self-denial is a big part of what it means to follow Jesus.  On several occasions, Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Mt. 16:24 NIV).   Self-denial is something that doesn't come easily since even as Christians we still struggle with our sinful …

Self-denial, Cross-bearing: No Thanks!

 J. M. Boice’s Christ’s Call to Discipleship is a great book on what it means to follow Jesus.  Some parts of this book are a little dated, but it is a good one to have for sure (used copies are well under $10 shipped).  Here’s a snippet: “In my judgment, the real reason why so …

Worse Than Rejecting the Gospel

This quote is super important for those of us who have had the Americanized gospel preached to us so many times - the 'gospel' that reduces Jesus to somebody who can help us along in our quests, the 'gospel' that says Jesus gives us the hammer, nails, and strength to build life's barns bigger and make us more comfortable (cf. …