What the Bible says about Self Renunciation
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 5:3 "Poor in spirit" does not mean to conduct one's life without vitality, nor does it mean that a person is weak. Would we ever accuse Jesus of being weak? Jesus was the personification of humility. People think of humility as weakness because they are judging carnally by man's spirit, by sight. But the Spirit of God, the faith of God, judges according to things not seen—the Kingdom's standards. Here is a definition of poor in spirit from a commentary by Emmet Fox on the Sermon on the Mount: To be poor in spirit means to have emptied yourself of all desire to exercise personal self-will and what is just as important to have renounced all preconceived opinions [prejudices] in the wholehearted search for God. It means to be willing to set aside your present habits of thought, your present views and prejudices, your present way of life, if necessary, to jettison in fact anything and everything that can stand in the way of your finding God. When Jesus counseled us in Matthew 18:4 that unless we became as little children, we would not even be in the Kingdom of Heaven, He was not holding up a child's innocence or purity as a model. He was not counseling us to become childish but to have a child's unconcern for social status, honor, or anything similar. When we are carnal, pride is such a master that we have little choice but to follow it. It is plowing the way before us. One who is truly poor in spirit, however, can ignore pride and follow God's lead. John W. Ritenbaugh Faith (Part Seven) Related Topics: Following God's Lead | Humility | Poor in Spirit | Poor of Spirit | Pride | Searching for God | Seeking God | Self Renunciation | Self Surrender

Luke 14:25-33 Self-renunciation is an indispensable condition of following Christ, required for accurately counting the true cost of allegiance to Him. This condition of full and selfless service to God demands our hearts and minds, not just our bodies. In Luke 14:25-33, two parables and an exhortation urge us to forsake all that we have as a mandatory condition to becoming Christ's disciples. One main lesson is emphasized in these scriptures: the nature and influence of true discipleship. Three times (verses 26, 27, 33) the commanding assertion is "cannot be My disciple." One who faithfully follows Christ must be prepared to hate—or more accurately, "love less"—his father, mother, wife, and children, as well as his own life. Loyalty to Jesus Christ and God the Father must be above even the highest loyalties of earthly love, that is, all our love of self must be subordinate to our love for God, who must be first in our life. Martin G. Collins Parables of Counting the Cost Related Topics: Counting the Cost | Disciple | Discipleship | Discipleship, Cost of | Love for Christ | Love for God | Love Less by Comparison | Loyalty to Christ | Parable of Counting the Cost | Self Renunciation | Self Sacrifice | Self Surrender

 

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