Hi ~

I'm excited to say that TODAY is Launch Day for Untwisting Scriptures to Find Freedom and Joy in Jesus Christ: Book 6 Striving, Dying to Self, and Life.

This means you can get your own copy for free!

Here's where you can go to get it.

it's free until midnight Pacific time on Thursday, December 5th. So please let everybody else know they can get a free copy too!

Aaand . . .

I thought you might be interested in an excerpt.

This is from Chapter 9, in Part 2, which addresses "Daily Dying to Self."

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What does it mean?

This is my sixth Untwisting Scriptures book. In every one of those books I’ve addressed teachings that many well-meaning Christians think are in the Bible but really aren’t. This is one of those teachings.

Since “daily dying to self” isn’t in the Bible, so I can’t go to the Bible to find out what it means, I went to Facebook. There I asked, “If you believe or used to believe in ‘daily dying to self,’ how would you describe that understanding?”

Among the deluge of heartfelt responses I received, categories began to emerge.

Some sounded like me in college, just wanting to be a better Christian.

My understanding of it was that dying to self meant choosing what Jesus would do and not what I would do in all the things I would come into in a day’s time.

I feel like dying to yourself means letting go of your plans, your way. It means letting go of desires and dreams if they are sinful or in the way of what God wants to do in your life. So dying to self includes humility and a willingness to do whatever God has for you, knowing that he will enable you and give you strength. Your inner man craves sin and attention and glory and SELF. Dying to self means fighting against that inner man. More of Christ, less of me.

But for many, the “daily dying to self” teaching has been mingled with teachings I’ve addressed in my other books. Whether unintentionally or by design, these teachings communicate that the individual is to be small, silent, subservient to others, and devoid of personal needs and desires.

I used to think it meant that I had to give up my wants, delights, desires, and interests. Especially when there was a conflict or disconnect with others. Even if they didn’t verbalize it.

“Dying to self” was used to make you put away even legitimate needs and desires. You couldn’t have desires and you weren’t to consider your own needs at all.

Minimizing or ignoring my own needs. Elevating the wishes, not just needs, of others. And whatever they required of me. And do it cheerfully.

I thought it meant denying myself anything I wanted. I had to always put others first and do whatever served other people. I’m not claiming that’s what I actually did, but I thought I must if I was to really obey that verse.

Only other people’s needs matter. If you’re doing it “right,” there shouldn’t really be anymore “you” left. Somehow it’s just Jesus, with like none of your personality left anymore. It honestly was very confusing how to live that out and actually be healthy.

To be clear, it’s actually very good to serve others, in ways that are healthful for all, and in some cases even being willing to put our own lives at risk.

But the “dying to self” teaching (which isn’t in the Bible, so there’s no verse to obey) is often understood as a teaching that puts “Others” between us and Jesus, denying any personal desires and even needs.

As you may suspect with such a teaching, the person who takes this teaching seriously will think the “self” needs to shrink to near invisibility.

But when we seriously try to follow that teaching, we’re producing a life completely different from the life the Lord wants us to live. Could this be one reason many are walking away from following the Lord Jesus?

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That's the end of the excerpt!

Wait no longer. You can get your free book here.

And please do let others know that they can pick up a free copy for themselves! But let them know that the sale ends at midnight Pacific time Thursday December 5th!

with you for untwisting Scriptures to see the goodness of God,

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

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