Good Christians Bad Habits Part 4: Dying to Self

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life podcast.

Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time.

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What's up everybody? So listen, this is episode 4 of season 4. It is part 4. It's the conclusion of Christian Mad Time series. Called Dying to Self, you know, Crucified Life, whatever terminology you want to use. But in this one, I want to— I strongly encourage you, you know, before or after, um, to read Romans 7 and 8. I believe this will— listen to this episode, the power of God will help draw out some things that I believe has been there the entire time, but God will give you, you know, a fresh revelation, uh, when you go back and you read those as you listen to this episode. I do have a foundational text for for you. And I am going to read one verse out of Romans 8:5 to kind of conclude. But like I say, please read Romans 7 and 8 if you haven't already. And if you have, just go through it again because like I say, this one will really help. This is very important when it comes to, you know, dying to self and living a Spirit-filled life. But I want to start out by reading Matthew 16:24-26 to you, and it reads, then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone will come after me Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? So right out the gate, this is probably one of the most challenging passages of scriptures that I believe they're in the Gospels, like straight up, because it is calling us to die to self. And we live in a world that's all about self, selfish gain, and just selfish motives, mixed motives, and so on and so on and so on. And then Jesus is saying, if anyone will come after me, let him die, deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. And to understand that, you know, the cross was used to signify putting to death, putting the flesh to death. And God is saying not go kill ourselves or nothing like that. He's not saying that. Jesus wasn't saying that to them. It's saying that we must put to death this flesh, this— these fleshly desires and things like that. And so we— because we want to live a life that's pleasing to him. And so if we're following him, we can't choose self and follow God. It's impossible. We cannot habitually practice and choose everything we desire but at the same time say that we are disciple of Christ. Because this true discipleship, true discipleship is going to cost our— cost us our life. Now salvation, he's saying that's freely given because he paid the price for it, the ultimate price, the ultimate sacrifice. So that's just accepting and believing in our heart by faith. That's, that's what that is, believing in our heart by faith that God raised him from the dead. The Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead, the resurrection Christ, the resurrected Christ. That we may live. That part, yes, no one can boast or anything. So we accept that as a finished work. Discipleship is a process. Sanctification process is on and on and on. It is a process, a lifelong process, because long as we live in these bodies, this flesh will oppose. It will never come into the righteous order of God. It will— it wants to go against God. And so we have to feed our spirit man, and we have to choose to take up our cross. We have to deny self. And I know motivational speaking, like I say, I love— I've read a lot of self-help books. Like, some of them are like Compound Effect, and I'm not knocking these. I'm so— you can read them, but read them in proper context and put them in their proper place. Don't become so pumped up on self that you feel like you don't need God anymore. It's just like, you know, the gift giver in the, in the, in the, um, in and the gifts. You know, if you give someone a gift and it's a gift that they can really use, and then like, and they just— I'm talking about it really helps them propel in life, whatever that may be, but they never take the time to thank you and talk to you about it, and they go on to just worship in this faint example and worship that gift and praise and stuff, and they just say, whoever, whoever you may be, thank you so much for this, thank you, you know, and work then it's like, okay, you are praising and glorifying your gift more than the gift giver. So that's a faint example, but think about God when it comes to spiritual gifts and just gifts and talents in general that he gives us. And we go on and we start like, okay, I have the gift, it's about me, me, me, me, me. No, it's about God. It's about the gift giver. It's to point people to the gift giver, God himself. And so If we don't die to self, these are the things that start to happen. We get to— we take on a mentality that God can work through us and do stuff through us so long that we believe it's us doing it. But Jesus is saying, no, you, you gotta die to that. You gotta deny that. Because you can go out here and go gain the whole world. I mean, you can lead people to Christ, you can do so much. It can bring you great prosperity or whatever, whatever that may be. And I'm not just talking financially, notoriety, so on and so on, but yet lose your soul because you were so full of self that you couldn't be full of him, which is God, full of the Spirit. And so you have to make that intention. Like I said, Jesus is not saying kill yourself. He's not talking suicidal or nothing like that. He is saying putting to death this flesh, going away and truly following me, whatever I desire you to do. Like I said, you can't habitually give in to and practice the things in your flesh but at the same time call yourself a disciple or a true follower of Christ. You're just talking that it's all-inclusive. If we do that, you might say out here, well, man, I mess up, I feel like you're judging. No, that's not judging. If you say that you are a follower of Christ because we don't like accountability and you're out here living the life that you want to live that you know that doesn't glorify God? Are you praying and saying, Lord, you praying these prayers, but the intent of your heart is just to continue to go sin, sin, sin? Your nature— you are your soul in the tripartite being: spirit, soul, and body. Your soul is siding with your flesh, and that's why you feel like you're in this tug of war, or you're one person split in two. You feel like two different people, and the enemy wants to keep you there And this is why Romans 7 is so important, because Paul was trying to fix the flesh with the flesh. He was crying out, but he came to the conclusion when he— when, you know, a lot of people like to end with wretched man, but notice he didn't stay there. So yeah, my flesh, I know that I'm a wretched man, but in the spirit, through the power of God in the Holy Spirit, I'm not. I don't identify with that if I'm living a Spirit-filled life. So I'm very aware that I'm in this flesh, but I choose to live for God. And that's what Romans 8:5, you know, the last verse I want to read with you, he says, those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires. We just said that if you are living according to the flesh, so if you're out here going out and you're sexing every weekend, you, uh, fornicating, whatever, fornicating, you know, adultery, you're stealing you're, uh, just deceiving, lying, just habitually practicing, practicing this stuff. But then he's like, Lord, forgive me, I love you so much. You do not love God because you are, you are habitually practicing it. God said, if you love me, you also keep my commands. So, and that's the truth. Love God with all your heart. So how do you love God with all your heart? It's about being obedient. If my kids right now told me that they truly love me no matter how old they get, you know, but just in the context of raising them in this house with them being 11 and 8, but they never kept what my wife and I told them, the commands that we tell them, then no, you don't. You're just talking. You're just talking. So what disciplines and things like that come into play? So like, sometimes this is why these trials and tribulations come, because God is saying, no, no, it's a calling on your life. And my plan is not for you to live this life. My plan— the plan for your life is predestined. I want you to do this, but I also give you choice. So if we live according to the flesh and we have our minds set on what— on a set on basically fleshly things, then we're going to put our heart is fleshly desires because we haven't come into the knowledge. But notice once again, Paul didn't stay there, but But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. So you are transitioning to being more spiritual than you are flesh because you desire what God desires, you love what God loves, you hate what God hates. And it's not saying that you're not going to make mistakes here and there, but let it be a mistake, a shortcoming, and you have an advocate that you don't stay there. But don't let it be anything that you habitually practice. You're the one, uh, habitually going out and doing what you do. So you make a mistake, you know, and it's like, okay, but your heart is truly, you know, God, I, I, I, I failed, I backslid, but God, I repent. And the intent of your heart is to truly please God. And God knows the heart, you know. We like to use that to say, well, God knows my heart, because we don't like accountability, we don't like to be corrected, we don't like to be rebuked. But what you're also truly saying is God does know your heart. He knows it better than you. So you don't want to fall— kind of going back to the episode of self-deception— that you're living a distorted truth. You're living in denial because the enemy has you blinded. And so when someone in the spirit of the Lord comes to try to correct or challenge you, to say, no, this is not right, all have sinned, God knows my heart, we're so quick to rebuttal. But we're— keep in mind, God works with his people. And so we're so quick to rebuttal because we are living in that flesh. We enjoy it. The flesh, and it loves to oppose God. But don't let your soul keep siding with the flesh. Put in the work. And so, and no, and I understand, you know, like, it's times in my life that I never thought— I believed that my intentions were right. The intent of my heart was to please and love God. But it's like I just could not do it. The grip of sin was so strong on my life. But this is the thing, I didn't stop. I kept digging in. Accountability. My parents was checking me. My parents rebuked me a lot. I was around people that challenged me. No, no, no, you're not, you're not gonna be able to come around them and live this life. It wasn't that they were judgmental, I just didn't feel comfortable around them. But at the same time, it just kept going. And so I didn't deliver myself, God did it. And that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, no, no, salvation is— yes, it's free to you, but it still came with a cost. Jesus said, I'm the ultimate sacrifice. I'm the one— prepare me a body, live a sinless life— and became what he didn't know. In other words, he took on, on him, so that we may live, that we may have life eternal life. And so he's saying that no, yes, I mean, I'm sorry, you can accept that because no one can both boast. If you believe in your heart with faith, yes, salvation is freely given to you. But this discipleship thing, nah, bruh, nah, sis, that ain't— and I know I'm using bunnies, but that's not, that's not happening. This is gonna cost you something. You got to make a choice. You have to mortify this flesh. You have to do something. He's calling you. You have to die to self and find your life in me. Hide your life in me. This is Christ talking. And so this whole crucify our life thing, it is daily. I mean, it's even through the day, like it's the constant state of renewing the mind, always praying, always communing with God, just talking to him. Help me, Lord. Sometimes that might just be what it is when you know you're about to go do something that you getting drunk or whatever. Lord, help me. God, I don't want to do this. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit, because what we do is we grieve it. We try to like— we harden our hearts when we hear his voice. I believe it's Hebrews 3:15. When we hear the voice of the Lord, we harden our heart. And we don't want to be like Israel, Pharaoh. You know, we can look in the Bible, Exodus, and like, man, Pharaoh, he hardened his heart, and then God hardened his heart. But Pharaoh did it first. Pharaoh hardened his heart first, if you really examine scripture. And so what I'm saying is that it's just like, okay, now we out here and it's like, yeah, I hear the voice of the Lord, but I don't want to hear it. So we continue to practice sin and we continue to live in these fleshly desires because we don't want to die to self. So we can't be brought in by this world. And I know it's difficult. This world is so aggressive with getting us to live a life that goes against Christ. We— it is. But that's why we need the local churches to truly step up. That's why you have to be connected with a sound doctrine local church, and not just a team of people up there that are just great communicators and speaking, but truly living the life. Their life is an example. Not saying that they're perfect, but you're following them as they follow Christ, submitting to the authority. And if they stop following Christ, you continue to follow Christ. You don't, you don't let them deviate you. That's why Paul— follow me as I follow Christ. I was, you know, talking to my dad and I said, man, it's just like if I say, hey, I want everybody to follow me as I'm going to Dallas, Dallas, Texas. And, you know, so that was like— so we're on the highway, pretty much a straight shot, and y'all see me take an exit, but I said follow me as long as I'm going to Dallas. Well, truthfully, you know, we got phones with GPS now, but they see me take a detour to go to Houston or something, whatever, you know, Louisiana, just whatever. I take an exit, they don't follow me off of that. They continue to follow the signs and the direction. So that's kind of how it is in the context of what God— it's like, no, you don't deviate and go with them. You continue to go ahead and straight to Dallas because you might look up and you might see me, oh, he's back on the road. I straddle, I whatever. But you continue to follow the path, follow the plan of God. And in the context of our life, that's how I believe God wants us. That's how I look at it. And it's just, you know, and I know, like I said, these illustrations are faint, but that's how it is. So never take your eyes off God. But if your leader is doing what they supposed to do, when you keep it in mind, yes, they are human, but I believe God truly equipped them, and you know that their spirit real, not a person that's just like trying to manufacture, you know, the spirit. But you know, you know that their life supports it. You follow that person, man, as they follow Christ. And you, you get connected with that body of Christ and just pray that God helps keep you about, uh, accountable, not just vertically but also horizontally and through his people, and that the proper grace and truth is shown. In love. So I just, like I said, now, man, as you read Romans 7 and 8, you know, that's, that's the beauty in it. Paul was basically, like I said, in Romans 7, trying to fix the flesh with the flesh. He was trying to fix all of these things without God. But that's what makes Romans 8 so beautiful, is that he came into the knowledge that, wow, the Spirit of God is what does it. It's the Spirit of God. So we had— you have to make a decision to die to self You do not want to go out here and gain so much notoriety, like I say, and success, and you lose your soul. And that's kind of the question he asked at the end in Matthew, or what shall a man give in return for his soul? I'm not going to answer that from here. I want you to. What shall a man give in return for his soul? So listen, I really hope, man, you've enjoyed this series. I'd like to— I know we got an outro on here. But this Dying to Self, I did— I, I, you know, probably could have went 45 minutes, not an hour, but we, we know this is, you know, very niche-driven because just the world we live in. But I just wanted to put something on your mind, and, and that's the thing, you know, challenge you. Because trust me, I— it's the same thing with me. I love being challenged to grow deeper and grow closer to God. And so if you want to talk, if you want to rap about it or whatever, man, like please hit me up, just www.timothyprattjr.org, you know, hit me up through social media. But please read Romans 7 and 8 and just kind of go through it and then come back, listen to this, you know, and just plug and play. And as well as Matthew 16, read all of Matthew 16, but more so focus around 24 and 26 and just ponder on it and meditate it, as well as Romans 8:5. So listen, be blessed, man. I love you all. We're going to transition into basically kind of like the one-off episodes try to, like I said, go ahead and get these interviews recorded and go from there. So I love you all, man. Continue to choose God. I pray for you all. Continue to walk and live by the Spirit, a principle-centered, Spirit-filled life, and die to this flesh. Do not let the world drive you to living a life that totally opposes God. Be blessed.

Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you wanna connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.