Hating Our Own Life
To become a disciple of Jesus, we must hate our own self-life, deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily.
Zac Poonen emphasizes the second condition of discipleship, which is to hate our own self-life as Jesus taught. This involves denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily, and putting to death the self-life inherited from Adam. Our self-life, also known as 'the flesh', is the main enemy of the life of Christ, tempting us to seek our own gain, honor, pleasure, and way. Jesus reiterated the importance of hating our own life six times in the gospels, highlighting the need to give up our rights, privileges, reputation, ambitions, and interests to truly follow Him.
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The second condition of discipleship is that we must hate our own self-life. Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own life, he cannot be My disciple " (Lk. 14:26).
He amplified that further by saying, "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple "(Lk. 14:27).
This is one of the least understood of all of Jesus' teachings.
He said that a disciple would have to "deny himself and take up his cross daily " (Lk. 9:23). More important than reading our Bible or praying daily, we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. To deny our Self is the same as to hate our own life - the life that we have inherited from Adam. To take up the cross is to put that Self-life to death. We have to hate that life first, before we can slay it.
Our self-life is the main enemy of the life of Christ. The Bible calls this `the flesh'. The flesh tempts us to seek our own gain, our own honour, our own pleasure, our own way etc. If we are honest, we'll have to admit that many of our best actions are corrupted by evil motives that arise from our Self-life. Unless we hate this flesh, we will never be able to follow the Lord.
This is why Jesus spoke so much about hating (or losing) our life.
In fact, this phrase is repeated six times in the gospels (Mt. 10:39; 16:25; Mk. 8:35; Lk. 9:24; 14:26; Jn. 12:25). This is the one saying of our Lord that is repeated most often in the gospels. Yet it is the least preached about and the least understood!
To hate your own life is to give up seeking your own rights and privileges, to stop seeking your own reputation, to give up your ambitions and interests, and to stop seeking your own way etc., You can be a disciple of Jesus, only if you are willing to go this way.
Sermon Outline
- The Second Condition of Discipleship
- The Enemy of the Life of Christ
- The Importance of Hating Our Life
- Repeated Six Times in the Gospels
- The Least Preached and Least Understood Teaching of Jesus
- Preventing Us from Following the Lord
Key Quotes
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” — Zac Poonen
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” — Zac Poonen
“To deny ourselves and take up our cross daily is more important than reading our Bible or praying daily.” — Zac Poonen
Application Points
- We must be willing to give up our own rights, privileges, and ambitions to follow Jesus.
- Denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily is more important than reading our Bible or praying daily.
- We must put our self-life to death in order to live the life of Christ.