The Discipleship Dare @ Grace in Bel Air, MD - Day #2 - Deny Yourself

(Join the pastors of Grace as we post "Facebook Notes" for our 40 days of discipleship. Please interact with these notes. They are based on the book: The Discipleship Dare: Living Dangerously for God - http://thediscipleshipdare.com/ - we are reading together as a church.)

The calling of a disciple can be summarized in one word most people do not have in their vocabulary: sacrifice. It requires self sacrifice, not selfishness. It's impossible to sign up for discipelship yet not sacrifice something, sometime, somewhere.

Changing the way I lived as a drug addict took great sacrifice. I had to deny myself the craving of a drug addiction that kills people. I learned that until the power to change and deny myself was greater than the power of the addiction, I would remain the same. It took the power of changing and denying myself increasing through my submission to God's plans and purposes on this earth for me to break free from my addictions. One of the greatest sacrifices I made in my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ was in the first step.

The life of a disciple is marked by sacrifice. Sacrifice hurts. It goes against the grain. It's not based on feelings, but on facts. It often does not look, smell or feel right. It feels like you are swimming up stream most of the time.

There is nothing more powerful in a disciples tool box then to show the culture around you a life marked by godly sacrifice. Sacrifice your dreams and ambitions for God's plans and purposes. It's the only way to bring restoration to the world. If we do not sacrifice what's popular for what's godly, and whats fashionable in culture, for whats godly, then we will not stop cultural decay.

Are you living the life marked by sacrifice? Do the people around you notice you respond to the culture differently? Or do you just blend in? Do do prevent cultural decay? Is Jesus' reputation strengthened by your presence in culture?