Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 10:23

            “Denying yourself” means to put your plans, dreams, needs secondary to God’s plans, dreams and needs for you.  It is no longer about your will but his will in your life.  To “take up their cross and follow” Jesus means a willingness to die, sacrificially for God, and go wherever he takes you.  A life for Jesus doesn’t look for ways to preserve oneself but to give oneself to others.