December 9

‘It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and assertiveness, and this is where the battle has to be fought.’ – OC
Sin is not a natural byproduct of the physical world. It is the result of Man’s own brokenness, and as I’ve noted before, can be traced back to its basic components in the fall from grace of Lucifer. All sin is in some sort, an expression of our notion that we are better than God. Conversely, the beauty of humility before God is in the assertions that not only are we not better than Him, but on the contrary are destitute and have nothing to offer Him of value other than our reciprocated love.
Jesus said, “If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself.” It seems counter-intuitive that the marginalization of the ego would produce a creation more equipped to succeed, but in Christ this is precisely the case. When we deny ourselves, we avoid our own selfish desires and can experience the natural world through Christ’s example despite our brokenness.
Furthermore, denial of the self in conjunction with the acceptance of Christ provides more confidence over the natural world. We have all sinned and in that sense, we have all played our part in the crucifixion of Christ. Yet, God forgives us still. If God, who is greater than all things in this world, has forgiven us, how can we continue to judge ourselves harshly? Given this information, how can we continue to be sensitive to the opinions of our peers?
Please note however, that we must sacrifice our whole selves in pursuit of the relationship with Christ. We cannot pick and choose those behaviors which we want to get rid of or keep. Christ sacrificed His whole self, and we are called to do the same.
We are a unique creation. We live in the natural, physical world and yet are also spiritual. Our God is spiritual and created the natural world in which we live. He has been manifest in our physical world, but only for the purpose of allowing us a means to enter into the spiritual world with Him. In this sense, we live in a crossroads between the physical and the spiritual world. That which is physical cannot become spiritual and that which is spiritual cannot become physical, save of course for the miracle of Jesus Christ.
In our effort to come to Christ, we must strengthen our spiritual presence through the sacrifice of our physical whims. When Christ asks that we deny ourselves, He is asking us to change our behaviors. As OC puts it at the end of today’s lesson, “It is not a question of praying, but of performing.”