In a recent sermon, we saw Jesus telling the crowd “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34. There is a lot to unpack in that verse and we didn't cover all that we could have last week.
However, earlier this week I was reading Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss. In it he says, "The point is that anxiety becomes a marker that something other than my identity in Christ is at play: a false self that leads to death, not life." When we rely on ourselves and our own effort and not die to self and let Jesus take over completely, we face anxiety when things get tough.
To overcome this problem, we must change our heart to experience the change that Jesus wants to make. Then we will walk the sinful path less because we will be hungry for life, not destruction. It is hard to make this change, but when we intentionally die to self daily we can see the abundant life that God has in store for us right now and not just in eternity.
Steve goes on to say "One effective tool that has helped drive this home for me is a simple prayer I frequently offer to God: Jesus died so I don't have to_________________ anymore." For example, "Jesus died so I don't have to please everybody anymore." So next time you are facing anxiety, seek to identify where it is coming from and then give to Jesus and say that prayer. Then you live in the peace that only Jesus can give us.
How To Overcome Anxiety!
In a recent sermon, we saw Jesus telling the crowd “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34. There is a lot to unpack in that verse and we didn't cover all that we could have last week.
However, earlier this week I was reading Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss. In it he says, "The point is that anxiety becomes a marker that something other than my identity in Christ is at play: a false self that leads to death, not life." When we rely on ourselves and our own effort and not die to self and let Jesus take over completely, we face anxiety when things get tough.
To overcome this problem, we must change our heart to experience the change that Jesus wants to make. Then we will walk the sinful path less because we will be hungry for life, not destruction. It is hard to make this change, but when we intentionally die to self daily we can see the abundant life that God has in store for us right now and not just in eternity.
Steve goes on to say "One effective tool that has helped drive this home for me is a simple prayer I frequently offer to God: Jesus died so I don't have to_________________ anymore." For example, "Jesus died so I don't have to please everybody anymore." So next time you are facing anxiety, seek to identify where it is coming from and then give to Jesus and say that prayer. Then you live in the peace that only Jesus can give us.