Matthew 16:24-25
“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.”
Through disinformation and affecting our attitudes, Satan can lead mankind toward self-satisfaction, not self-denial, because self-satisfaction is the essence of sin. When we sin, we bring upon ourselves the death penalty. To teach the right lesson, Jesus immediately taught that the way to the Kingdom of God is through self-denial, not self-satisfaction. Satan will try to persuade us not to deny ourselves, but to fulfill ourselves at the expense of others.
Surely, God would not want us to face this kind of a trial, would He? Yes, it could happen if the temptation comes through well-meaning people. We are particularly vulnerable when we can be led to believe that we are not being treated as we deserve.
Satan used this major ploy against Adam and Eve: “Oh, has God said so? He’s withholding from you.” Such was his implication. “Why, if you do things the way you want, you can have much more. You can be god.” We always want more; it is part of human nature.
Unfortunately, mankind keeps making things worse by making the same general mistakes over and over again in each generation. It may never end until each individual decides they will not do it, regardless of the cost to themselves. This is denying oneself. Some things in life are beyond our control, and we must leave them to God to solve.
