Self-Reunciation, Part III

(Lent is about humbling one's self and taking on the nature of Christ. Each Sunday during this time I will let wise Christians speak on these subjects, the first 3 weeks about self-renunciation and the following 3 weeks on spiritual formation. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, spells out just what self-renunciation means.)

Third Sunday of Lent

"'If any man will come after me, let him renounce himself and follow me,' (Gospel of Matthew 16.24).

"This implies:

1. A thorough conviction that we are not our own, that we are not the proprietors of ourselves or anything we enjoy, that we have no right to dispose of our goods, bodies, souls, or any of the actions or passions of them.

2. A solemn resolution to act suitably to this conviction: Not to live to ourselves, not to pursue our own desires, not to please ourselves, nor to suffer our own will to be any principle of action to us."

-- John Wesley, Forms of Prayer for Every Day of the Week (Preface)