Die To Yourself.

What do you think of when you think of a typical Christian? I'll give you a little list that we came up with during Ignite last night. Christians normally rock the Chacos (it doesn't matter the time of year), their jeans are a little tighter, maybe they're into flannel and rock cool glasses. They typically hang out at coffee shops and abbreviate cuss words (son of a B/what the F)…This is all well and good, but do we look like Christians or do we look like Jesus? This is the question we need to ask ourselves. Once we know how to look like Him, we can take an inventory of our lives. You can make someone look like a Christian, but you can't make them look like a Disciple. A Disciple is someone who imitates and obeys their creator. 

John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

If we are called to love others like Christ loves us, we need to know what that looks like. It is selfless. Jesus is supreme. Instead of allowing us to die the death we deserve, He allowed his own creation to kill Him. I don't know about you but that is crazy to me. Can you imagine creating something and then allowing it to torture and humiliate you? I can only try to come close to understanding that kind of love. He loves us too much to let us perish. Here's what makes this love more mind boggling: He didn't have to do this for us. We must give up the things we are entitled to. We must die to our pride and our wants and lust in order to love people. We must live life as a sacrifice to Him.

But are we dying to ourselves? Are we taking the time to sit down and engage with people? How aware are we of the people that we cross paths with on our way to do something? People are not an interruption to your day, they are your day. Don't get caught up in "me" and miss the boat. Are we willing to stop and love them or do we see them as interruptions or burdens? Are we willing to discern what is important and what is not? When we see people who are hurt and broken, what do we do? We need to engage. Look for places where God puts opportunities in your life. He is up to things that He wants us to be involved in. If we want to be a people who look like Jesus, we need to die to ourselves. That is the way Christ has loved us, selflessly and sacrificially. 

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." A new heart makes all the difference, 

Courtney