The Easiest Way to Die to Yourself is to Live for Others

People often ask, “If you keep living in sin, does that mean that you’re not going to go to heaven?” That question should actually be, “Why do people actually live in sin?” It’s simply because they do not hate their own lives. They don’t understand what actually took place at salvation.

Christ delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and from the power that sin had over us. People want to avoid hell, so they get saved, but they don’t really hate their old life. Jesus says, “You have to hate your own life to be my disciple” (Lk 14:26). You don’t really discover the fullness of the kingdom of light unless you let go of the kingdom of darkness. Jesus made provision for us to no longer be bound by sin. The cross freed us from the power of sin.

If you’re really born again, if you’re really a new creature, you have let go of your worldly identity. Sin is not really the cause, but the symptom. You sin because you feel you’re lacking something that you’re not getting from God. And that’s because you don’t understand the full inheritance that Christ has provided when you were given a new identity, when you were made a child of God. There was a massive inheritance deposited into your bank account the minute you got saved. The inheritance that Jesus has was given to each one of us and it’s available now through the credit card that has that Name, Jesus.

Did you know that you can be a millionaire, and yet if you have no access to an ATM or to a bank where you can draw on your resources, you can die of hunger? And that’s the way many Christians live their lives. They don’t tap into God’s abundant resources. All of these promises that God made are available to us, now. But if we don’t access them, it is our own fault.

When it comes right down to it, the cause of sin is either not loving God or not loving our neighbor. If we really did love our neighbor, we wouldn’t steal from him, we wouldn’t covet what he has. Sin is not really the issue. Our love for God is. If we really didn’t want to sin, then we would quit thinking about it. The Bible instructs us to “think on these things” (Phil 4:8). We cannot think on good things and sin. Get your mind on other things. It’s a discipline. You cannot be thinking about sinning and about Jesus at the same time, it’ll take all the fun out of it.

We’re back to our own will. We’re the ones making the decision. If you have a problem proclaiming your faith, wear Christian t-shirts until you’re in the habit of standing up for what you believe. It will force you not to go back to your old life. Wear the t-shirts until you’ve grown an aversion for the world. Cut the ties, burn the bridges that might give you an opportunity to return. Whatever you need to do to break the habit is what you have to do. The reason people sin is because they want to. –“That they may consume it upon their own lusts.“ (Jam 4:3).

Jesus has broken the power of sin at the cross, but the devil did not inform you of that. Beware because if your Christian life is not working, if you’re not bearing fruit, you’ll end up living in rebellion against God, wondering why it’s not working, and you’ll conclude ‘why try?’ “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”  (Pro 13:12).

But you can come to the knowledge of the truth. And the way you do is by taking responsibility for what you do know. Let’s face it, we don’t really grow up until we have to. The one thing that makes young people grow up real quick is when they start having children. Why? Because they realize that that child will not eat until they get off the couch and go work to provide for him. Responsibility causes you to straighten up and be accountable. That’s what compels you to do something.

As believers, we must grow into being accountable to where we will decide to help people and live a life of caring. We die to ourselves so others won’t die. Just like a parent does, every day. You get to where you don’t have to make that decision every day. It’s WHO you are as a parent. It’s WHO you are as a Christian. If you really love Jesus, everything else becomes detestable. Gardeners who love flowers hate weeds.

So back to the original question, sin is not really the issue. If you try to serve God just because you want to avoid hell you will be miserable. You’ll be living in legalism, trying to please God in the flesh. You sin simply because you want to, nobody sins for you. Plain and simple, it’s you yielding to your own lusts. The devil has little to do with it. You just choose to do your own thing. Nobody forces you to spend three hours on the couch flipping channels. It’s your own choice.

We can produce whatever feeling we decide to produce by looking at the one thing designed to produce that feeling. Romans 6:16 says we become the slave of what we focus on. We end up looking at what we want to feel. If you’re not fulfilled with the love of God, you will fill up your heart with filth, hoping to satisfy that deep hunger for the real thing, the truth!

So many people try to fulfill a spiritual call through natural means, such as the many who go into medicine to heal others, or the many who decide to be policemen because they originally wanted to help others, to serve and protect. But their true calling was first a spiritual calling to lay down their lives for others.

If you hold on to the world with one hand and to God with the other hand, you’ll be miserable. Paul said, “I die daily.” What he meant is, “I make that decision every day to die to myself that I may live for others to find God.” Christian life is not supposed to be convenient. The American dream is not the gospel.

People call on God for Him to fulfill their American dream, to supply all that they want, but that’s not the message of the Gospel. Our life is to be lived for the service of others. Jesus did not live a life of convenience and comfort. He had to spend time with His Father out of His own time; getting up way before others to spend time alone with the Father. You never punch off in Christian life, you burn up for Jesus. You don’t burn out because His burden is light. You rest by worshiping, thanking Him for His goodness, the freedom He gives, the provisions, and for the ability to heal others. –What a life!

You live life abundantly by always pouring your life into the service of others. Christian life is a conduit, you receive from God to give to others. It is a one-way ticket. You’re always going forward, not backwards. You’re serving, always caring, living for God and living for people.

Nothing is more important than your new identity. It all starts there, and it all ends here. There’s no more of you, Jesus in you and Jesus through you. You get your energy and your inspiration from His Word. It is who you are now. You access your full inheritance in His promises to provide for others. You hang out with God and you get His energy, and you pass it on to others.

Ministry is really Him ministering to you. To paraphrase what John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what the kingdom can do for you, but what you can do for the kingdom.” People who truly “know their God will be strong and will do exploits” (Dan 11:32).

The devil may be like a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy, but, “The eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.” (2Chro 16:9). It comes down to our own decision. It’s our own will that determines WHO we’re going to be, not the power of sin. God wants us to be consumed by Him.

Let’s decide today to live all-in for Him, and having put our hand to the plow, never to look back, knowing THIS, ““God showed how much he loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is REAL LOVE—not that we loved God, but that HE loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10).