It ain't me
Self-denial.
So, what does self-denial mean? How do we "do" self-denial. Charles G. Finney wrote some on it...here are some paraphrased thoughts:
What self-denial isn't:
It's not continued selfishness. I'm not practicing self-denial if I stop doing something because I fear consequences or expect a reward.
It's not giving others something for which we have no use anyway or which does not inconvenience or trouble us.
What self-denial is:
It's denying self purely for the good of others and not for a "big picture" of bettering ourselves.
It's real sacrifice solely for the glorification of God and good of others.
He says further on:
"Self-denial implies the joyful giving up of what we need, or what might contribute to our comfort, for the purpose of doing a greater good to others. For example--here is a man who has been to the baker's, and purchased a loaf of bread for his supper. He has been laboring hard, and really needs the bread. But in passing a miserable habitation of poverty, a little, pale, emaciated child stands at the door, and, stretching out its little beggar hands, asks for bread. He is induced to enter this abode of wretchedness, and finds a widowed mother, sick and famishing, surrounded with her starving babes. He is hungry himself; but they are starving. He has no more money. If he gives his bread, he must retire without his supper. If he gives all that he has, it will afford but a scanty pittance to this starving family; but he gives it instantly. He gives it joyfully, and absolutely retires to bed without his supper, with tears of joy and gratitude, that by denying himself he has been able to keep a fatherless family from absolute starvation. This is self-denial. It was self-denial in God to send his Son to die for sinners, and self-denial in Christ to undertake and accomplish the great work of man's salvation."
So, what does self-denial mean? How do we "do" self-denial. Charles G. Finney wrote some on it...here are some paraphrased thoughts:
What self-denial isn't:
It's not continued selfishness. I'm not practicing self-denial if I stop doing something because I fear consequences or expect a reward.
It's not giving others something for which we have no use anyway or which does not inconvenience or trouble us.
What self-denial is:
It's denying self purely for the good of others and not for a "big picture" of bettering ourselves.
It's real sacrifice solely for the glorification of God and good of others.
He says further on:
"Self-denial implies the joyful giving up of what we need, or what might contribute to our comfort, for the purpose of doing a greater good to others. For example--here is a man who has been to the baker's, and purchased a loaf of bread for his supper. He has been laboring hard, and really needs the bread. But in passing a miserable habitation of poverty, a little, pale, emaciated child stands at the door, and, stretching out its little beggar hands, asks for bread. He is induced to enter this abode of wretchedness, and finds a widowed mother, sick and famishing, surrounded with her starving babes. He is hungry himself; but they are starving. He has no more money. If he gives his bread, he must retire without his supper. If he gives all that he has, it will afford but a scanty pittance to this starving family; but he gives it instantly. He gives it joyfully, and absolutely retires to bed without his supper, with tears of joy and gratitude, that by denying himself he has been able to keep a fatherless family from absolute starvation. This is self-denial. It was self-denial in God to send his Son to die for sinners, and self-denial in Christ to undertake and accomplish the great work of man's salvation."
posted by Chitchat at 11:43 AM
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