Dying Daily

The Bible tells us that we must die daily.  Have you ever really thought about that?  Before the real you can live, the you that has been created in the image of man, must die.  We try to fit into life in various ways.  By being like our biological family, we connect on that level.  At some point, we question that way of living and believing.  We often "leave the father's house."  We think we have chosen a new path.  In reality, we have chosen the same path on a different game board.  We connect with many different groups only to find that it is really all the same...this person is my dad in the group and this person is my mom in this group.  We will find siblings, and we will find that the rules on this game board are not that different than those in my father's house.   

Dying to self is a slow process.  It means that we are coming to that place that we are not OK measured by all these groups.  We are OK (and better than OK), measured by the standard of Jesus Christ.  In Him we have the fullness of the Godhead.  In Him, we have the mind of Christ.  There is only one source for this...in Him.  Getting to this place, means dying daily to self.  The self needs to please others; our standing in all our tribes is dependent on it.  If you don't believe it, just try being out-of-step with the tribe on something. 

The need to be valued in our different groups causes us to sell ourselves.  What is your price today?  What will it cost you tomorrow because you sold yourself today.  It is a false/counterfeit value system.  But what about "blessed are the peacemakers?"  I see this as an opportunity of creating and sharing peace, not by giving yourself away, but by encouraging others to learn peacefulness even if you do not make them happy.  You cannot teach them this, you can only encourage them.  The other side of that peace is the peace that you find in being faithful to yourself and God.  This must always be in the context of being faithful to God first.   

At one point on my journey, God said I was a people pleaser and He needed for me to start practicing living life for Him rather than everybody else.  He said that it mattered because one day He would ask me to do something that not many people would like or approve.   If I didn't start practicing now, I would not be able to be obedient then.  These words to me put it all into a different perspective.  Daily compromise is practicing daily disobedience.   

Sometimes the only sweetness of belonging we have is that which comes from belonging fully to God.  In time, those who are really in step with the spiritual program, will understand the dying daily that you are going through.  They may even embrace it, too.  Often, our captivity feeds on each other.  When one begins to get freedom, the other can also.  It requires courage.  It requires the embracing of the Divine Mother/Father and the entering into the development of His original intent for us.  Dying daily truly becomes a way to become that new creation.  Praise God!