[Thursday's Devotional] - We need more…Self-awareness

We need more…Self-awareness   Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Mark 8: 34-37 [NIV] It is easy to get tangled in the web of self-absorption.  The notion of denying self is not very fashionable – we need to "look after No.1" as we say.  How can we be self-aware without being self-centred? Jesus teaches that we need to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow his example.  This doesn't mean that we are to face the same death as he did, rather that we need to "put to death" the idol of self – and be prepared to follow the path Jesus trod, dedicated to the service of others and putting our self-satisfaction below everything that matters. I know that I can be guilty of spending too much time thinking about myself and my well-being.  Taking time to listen to others is a good antidote to this. Jesus dedicated his life to others: to teaching, preaching, healing and interceding.  He also spent time on his own away from the crowds – not to relax and have a holiday, but to pray. Lord, I pray that you will help me to be aware of myself and my tendency to think more about me than about you. Help me to follow you today. Amen. Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!