Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? (Matthew 16:24-26, CSB).

A friend gave my wife a little figurine of Jesus and told her that “everyone needs a little Jesus.” I have started to notice these little Jesus figurines in lots of places. Recently, I pulled into the gas station to fill up the car with gas and there were little Jesus figurines holding “God Bless You” banners on all the gas pumps!

Although I am not keen on images or pictures of Jesus, I can certainly appreciate the play on words and the sentiment, “Everybody needs a little Jesus!”

But, the Bible and Jesus Himself explained that the amount of Jesus everybody needs is a whole lot more than just a little! In these verses from Matthew 16, the scenario Jesus described to His disciples was one of a condemned person carrying a cross on the way to execution. This imagery was certainly recognizable to His disciples as a form of capital punishment in the Roman Empire.

So, His disciples understood that Jesus meant the way that you followed Him required the total sacrifice of your own self-will. Following Jesus meant death to self-will — a surrender of following after your own way or self-interest in favor of God’s way.

But, understand that denying oneself is different from self-denial. Self-denial is often portrayed in terms of specific acts of self-control, abstinence, or moderation. These acts of self-denial may have positive or useful purposes for personal moral development but are not what Jesus meant by denying oneself.

Denying yourself means ceasing to make your own will the object of life and making God’s will the focus of your life. Oswald Chambers described self-denial as giving up your right to yourself.

The right to yourself — your will — is the only thing you really possess in life. But, the right to yourself is also the basis for sin and separation from God.

The moral ground on which we form a relationship with God is only through Jesus, His Son, and what He has done and not any act or actions of our own self-will.

Jesus made the choice clear for following Him: choose Him or choose self. We choose Him by utterly relinquishing our right to ourselves to Jesus.

So, following Jesus costs you everything and the only thing you really have — your right to your own self.

And, when you deny your own self and follow Jesus, your natural life is replaced with eternal life, your destiny fulfilled, and your life takes on immeasurable value and eternal significance because you (your self) now belong to God.

In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19-20, CSB)