John 12:24; Romans 6-(KJV)
John 12:24 says, "Verily, Verily, I say unto you; Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone but, if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
Romans 6:8, " Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."
We are told in the scriptures that we are to die to self but, what does that mean? It means that as you invite Christ into your life , you no longer live but, Christ with in you lives. How you are to act, respond, live, spread the gospel, love others, etc. is through Christ ; not of your own accord. lest it be with a worldly or fleshly attitude. We are to no longer walk in the way we did before we came to Christ. We are to walk out our salvation through Christ.
When satan tempted Adam and Eve he brought sin into the world and with that sin is a desire to please self only. And we are called to please God not self. If we were meant to be self pleasing then we would not be made to bring glory to our King.
When you are saved you become a different person because now you have Christ living in you. Look at your life and think back to before you were saved. Did you care about others before, or did making yourself happy matter the most to you.? In your job were you ok with stepping on others to get ahead ? In your personal life did you have friends that weren't there to help you in some way or were you a friend to the helpless and homeless? Did you lie, steal, cheat to get anything you wanted ? Now look at your life with Christ. Are you that same person today? Or have you turned over your life to the one who lives through you for the glory of God?
Look around you, are there people in your life, in your church, that you would never be seen with or never have made part of your life before Christ?
To know how to live as Christ follow his example. Jesus never did things for his own personal gain. He lived his life entirely for the glory of God. He was not to good to be seen with or help the poor and the downtrodden. He had no problem hanging out with the unlikeable such as the tax collector , he even helped a roman soldier. He gave his life for everyone even those who didn't yet know him. He was always fair , honest, loving and kind.
What better example could we get of dyeing to self than that of Christ Jesus that lives within us!
Ephesian 4:22-24 tells us :to put off your old self,which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
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