Dying To Self

Dying to self is a concept that I hadn’t really known of before I joined the Catholic Church. Many homilies during Lent touch on ‘dying to self’, but in my parish, I heard it quite often. It seemed to be the mantra of our parish priest - as well it should be to all Christians! We are born to a world of sin, and are pre-destined to be sinful creatures. It’s in our DNA – we can’t help it! We crave attention and awards. We want applause and accolades. We want to be the star of the show! “Look at me, mom! Watch what I can do!” We say this as children and the desire to be praised continues through our lives.

But…it’s not all about us. Not at all! We are called to be humble. God is the one who should be praised above all others! We cannot save ourselves - only by the grace and love of God are we granted eternal life. Without God, we are nothing. Dust in the wind.

Jesus gave us explicit instructions on what to do if we want eternal life. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25)

When I was a child, I thought that this was asking a bit much. I took it literally. (So you’re saying that I have to DIE for Jesus?? Yikes!) Later, I understood what Jesus meant. We have to die to self in order to live in Him. St. Paul had a good grasp on this. In his letter to the Romans he writes, “Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus… sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:11, 14).

When you die to self, you are saying no to sin and yes to Christ. Serving self is a waste of time. It won’t get you anywhere in the long run. When we choose to die to self, we move the focus from ourselves to Our Lord. It is the only way that we can truly LIVE.

I like to consider the saints when I think of examples of dying to self. Many of the saints that we know and love were real characters. Many of them had lived less than holy lives before converting their lives to Christ. Once they gave up the notion of serving self and began serving God, their lives were completely transformed!

Our lives can be transformed too, but it isn’t easy by any means. Earthly rewards are extremely tempting! But really, when is the last time you heard of a Ferrari giving it’s owner eternal life? The things of this earth are only “things”. They don’t last. They are temporary. They don’t give life. Only God gives life – and not just physical life, but eternal life!

Still, it’s tough. The temptation is always there. As St. Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). It’s a constant, daily battle, but it’s a battle worth fighting! After all, nothing can top the reward that waits for you when the battle is over!

"I cannot cling to shadows again, so here on this altar tonight, I lay every dream I've ever dreamt to burn in the fire He lights." ~ "Cry The Name" by Rich Mullins (Brother's Keeper, 1995)