Total Abandonment

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” Matthew 16:24-26

Jesus told those who followed Him that if they wanted to become disciples, they would have to deny themselves - to subjugate their individuality to become more like Christ.

Oswald Chambers writes: “Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people....When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated....God designed human nature for its own purposes.

The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality....Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, ‘I will not surrender,’ or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge.”

If left unattended, stubborn individuality will cause a deep rift between us and God. However, true discipleship is total abandonment to God.