Get Over Yourself

 

You must get over yourself to follow Jesus.

That was the word God gave me last week in grow group. If you are to truly follow Jesus, you must get over yourself.

Jesus said so Himself, although with very different wording. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, ESV). John the Baptist understood this when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30, ESV).

To put it plainly, get over yourself if you’re gonna follow Jesus. 

Now don't think I'm standing on a soap box here. I'm just as bad about this. I'm a performer and artist, of course I'm going to be prideful at times. I'm also an eldest daughter. All those things create the perfect recipe for me to be a bit of a diva sometimes (especially if I'm hungry). So this isn't a post about how I know what I'm doing. This is a post just as much for me as it is for you.

Okay, what does getting over yourself to follow Jesus look like?

First, it looks like humbling yourself. Like killing your pride.

Pride, in my opinion, is the most widespread sin. Everyone deals with it (and if you say you don’t, you’re being prideful and lying about yourself). It’s human nature to focus on ourselves. Pride is the very sin that made Satan and a third of the angels fall from heaven. Pride is what keeps you from coming to God in the first place. Every other sin has the root of either pride or idolatry. And often, that idol is ourselves, bringing it back to pride once again. Pride is what makes us sin, thinking we know better than God (He calls us sheep for a reason, y’all). Pride is what makes us hurt others, because we think we’re better than them. I would go so far to so pride is the root of almost all of our problems in society. Which is why we need to kill it. 

If we allow ourselves to be proud, God opposes us, as it says in James 4:6. However, if we humble ourselves before Him, that same verse says He gives us grace. A few verses later, it says He will exalt the humble. God rewards those who humble themselves before Him. Jesus is the ultimate example of this. Philippians 2 explains this clearly:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV, emphasis added)

Jesus was God in the flesh. If anyone had any right to have whatever he wanted, it was Jesus. However, Jesus didn’t do that. No, He was obedient to God in everything, to the point of death. If Jesus humbled Himself, the God made flesh, than we ought to as well. This is why Jesus said we are to deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily. Every day, we must kill our flesh, deny our pride, and humble ourselves. Death on the cross was a humiliating sentence. It humbles a person real quick. That’s what we are to do each day. Humble ourselves to the point of crucifying our flesh.

Okay, but that’s easier said than done. If we want to decrease and have God increase, do we just think we’re not as good as we want to think? No. In fact, weirdly enough, thinking badly about yourself is still a form of pride, because you’re focusing on yourself. Humbling yourself doesn’t mean thinking differently about yourself. It means changing how much you think about yourself. As Timothy Keller puts it, it’s thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.

 Okay, so don’t think of yourself so much. What do you think about instead? “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8, ESV). This is what Paul says we are to focus on. God and His works fit these descriptions, so thinking about that is always good. Not only that, but by focusing on God, He will help us focus on how to love others. When you think of others more than you think of yourself, you are truly doing the Lord’s work. And no, I don’t mean thinking badly about others or worrying what they think about you. That’s still pride. No, God will lead you to think about how you can help and love those around you. How you can do His will towards others. How you will just forget about yourself (not in a detrimental way) and truly see those around you who need help, who need Jesus.

You can’t share Jesus if you’re focused on yourself. You’ll never see how much others need Him. Jesus never focused on Himself. No, He constantly saw people in need, and was moved to act, whether it was healing or forgiveness. If you’re going to follow Jesus, deny yourself and take up your cross. After all, Jesus is the main character, not you. Kill your pride. Get over yourself.