The Death of Self

Key Passage: Philippians 3:8

Devotional:

Paul’s radical statement in Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” illuminates a truth that is all at once freeing and terrifying. To know Christ, we must destroy the idol of self.

That may not seem to be the main point at first reading but think about it—our flesh clings to self-righteousness, self-confidence, and even self-pity. We try to prove our worth, control, and earn our own sanctification, and inevitably despair when we fail. But Paul calls all of these things, and anything else we could claim as worth, to be “rubbish” compared to Christ.

The Puritan John Owen gives this grave advice: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Self- righteousness blinds us to our need for grace. Self-confidence tempts us to trust in our own strength rather than in Christ. Self-pity convinces us that our failures define us more than the cross does. If we allow for any of these “sins of self” to take root in our lives, we slowly begin to focus on them more than anything else.

Yet, we cannot brute force kill our sin—it is only through the Lord’s work of sanctification. Many attempt to conquer sin by sheer effort—modifying behavior, setting rigid rules, and disciplining themselves into something that looks better on the outside. But this kind of life is what Jesus would call a “whitewashed tomb.” While discipline has its place, transformation does not come from willpower alone. We don’t simply need to be made clean; we need to be made new! Jesus emphasizes this in John 14:15 & 21: “’If you love me, you will keep my commandments... And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’” Notice the order: Love comes first, then obedience follows. Obedience is not a self-willed effort to prove ourselves to God; it is a response to knowing Him.

To live the crucified life, to “claim the cross,” we must daily ask, “What am I clinging to that keeps me from knowing Christ more?” The cross strips us of false security and invites us into full dependence on Jesus. As the distractions of self-idolatry and sin are removed, we see more clearly the beauty of Christ, fall more in love with our Savior, and are transformed to be more like Him.

Application Question: What aspects of “self” are keeping you from deeper communion with Christ?

Further Reading: John 14; Philippians 3:7-8

Written by Jordan West