Luke 9:23-27 – Self-Denial and Shame

There are three important lessons that our Lord Jesus Christ is driving home to His disciples in these verses. The first is that the Christian life is a life of self-denial. It is a life of putting God and others before ourself. Christ does not give His disciples any illusion that self-denial is an easy thing – instead, He compares it to carrying a cross. It is a hard and often thankless task. It involves putting to death our own sin and selfish desires and waging war against the devil and his temptations. It is putting aside what we want and living and working for what Christ wants.

Christ teaches His disciples the value of the soul. All that the world contains is worthless and empty when compared to the soul. We may want much in the world, it may seem very attractive, but often when people achieve what they most desire, they are still not happy because they don’t have the things that matter most, they don’t have a living soul. Death comes to all, and when we stand before God it will not matter what we have accomplished or owned in this life – only the state of our soul will matter. To lose one’s soul is the worst thing that can happen to someone. All other losses are temporary, but the loss of the soul at death is permanent. It is to lose God, and Christ, and heaven, and glory, and happiness for all eternity.

Finally, Christ teaches His disciples the danger of being ashamed of Him and His words. There are many ways of being ashamed of Christ. We may be afraid of letting people know that we are a Christian, that we love Christ, that we think the Bible is true and applies to our life. We may be ashamed to let people see us attend church, pray, or read God’s Word. Being ashamed of Christ is a sign of unbelief. It shows we care more about what men think than about what Christ thinks. We have no right to be ashamed of Christ, instead let us be bold Christians.

Questions
1. What is the Christian life like?
2. How can we be ashamed of Christ?

Prayer Points
1. Pray that we would care more about God than man.
2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
3. Pray for family matters.