Dying to self

Greetings:
We hear that as Christians we should become dead to self and alive to Christ. What does that mean?
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
The verse says we must submit ourself and our will to the will of God and make it that which is most important to us.
We must not be conformed to the world and its thinking, but rather be transformed by the will of God into one who exemplifies the qualities Jesus possessed while on earth. We must desire to be like Christ in our dealings with family, our job, our service to others, our church.
We need to see the world with Christ's eyes – see it with faith and hope and covered with humility and forgiveness.
Our spiritual growth and maturity as a child of God is seen as we becomes more and more like Christ.
The apostle Paul lived in this very manner.
In Galatians 2:20 he stated, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." 
Paul is a good example of the attitude the Christian must have toward self.
Once we have put Christ first in our life, we must then place others before ourself.
One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 2:3,  which states, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."
God's standard says each individual is of greater value than all the wealth in the world because every human possesses an eternal soul.
Those in the world have forfeited their souls by giving in to sin. Jesus died on the cross to redeem, purchase back, the souls of those who would submit to His gospel and crown Him King of their lives. Therefore, without obedience to the gospel, without restoration of the soul, without the continual walk in fellowship with God, and without a vibrant prayer life, we truly are not living alive in Christ.
The most important thing we will ever do is establish and maintain a proper relationship with Jesus.  We start this by putting self to death and being made alive to Christ.
Be blessed.

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