Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24–25 (NKJV)
When you accept Jesus as your Saviour, your spirit is completely recreated. But it’s possible to still feel stuck in your old feelings and behaviours.
Now, this world can teach you how to monitor those things, but the Word shows you a way to change that’s deeper and more permanent. It teaches that there is the old you, which has its residual memories and wrong habits—and the new you, which is born again in Christ. This new identity is meant to transform your mind, emotions and physical body.
How do we begin that process? In today’s passage, Jesus starts by saying we need to take up our cross and follow Him. A cross is a symbol of death, and it means dying to the self-centred you.
Then He goes on to say that if you try to save your life, you will lose it. In other words, if you go by your own strength and ability, you’ll lose out on the life and dreams God has for you. But if you lose your life for Jesus’ sake—if you give up your old wrong beliefs and submit to the Word as your authority—this transformation leads to life.
This is an ongoing process of putting off the old and putting on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). And Holy Spirit is there to help you shed old weight and step into His new life!