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Self Help Is Killing You (Good Friday)

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Self help with a dash of Christianity is a dangerous poison for men. It seems innocuous at first... best practices mixed with a bit of prayer. "Faith-driven" values paired with the best principles in the fields of business, personal growth, and development. The temptation is to take ideas from the world, put a Christian twist on them, and try to live as successfully as possible.

Good Friday is a stark reminder that when it comes to our two greatest problems (sin and death), the self help movement offers nothing but empty promises and shrugged shoulders. You can maximize your calendar, but you still have a date with the eternal judge the moment you die. Jesus is something far more than a model "CEO", "Executive", or "High level leader." He died as a criminal on a cross for the sins of mankind. Jesus is the only one qualified to have carried out such a mission. If Jesus didn't die on a cross 2,000+ years ago, no amount of time management or personal growth could ever rescue from being spiritually dead.

Many men settle for modification— tweaking behaviors, adjusting habits, adopting best practices and pursuing goal-based disciplines to bring about life change. The problem is that behavior modification without heart transformation is like painting over rust: it may look better for a while, but the surface level changes will not last long. The Bible doesn’t call us to modify the old self; it calls us to mortify it.

Mortification is dying to the old self in order to live as a new man in Christ. Puritan pastor and author John Owen once said, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” Only the Gospel has the power to bring radical and lasting change. The Gospel is not about “doing better,” but being resurrected to a new life in Christ. The cross isn’t just a symbol of forgiveness—it’s the place where our pride, lust, fear, and selfishness goes to die.

For a man to become everything he was created to be, he must put to death his old self. Becoming a Christian is not adding Jesus to your portfolio or an upgrade to a better than average life. Jesus doesn’t give men that option - “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23. To be a man of God requires the man you once were to die.

Jesus took up His cross. He took it up a hill called Calvary, to a place called Golgotha. He willingly accepted His own crucifixion, taking on the sin of the world while being forsaken by God. The Apostle Paul describes what Jesus accomplished on that Good Friday in 2 Corinthians 5:21- "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Nobody else is doing that... no matter how many books they read, conferences they attend or coaches they hire.

Jesus is singular.

He stands alone... towering above all others as the God-Man who died to save His enemies.

If you are self help Christian, it is time to drop to your knees and ask God to help you. The message of Easter is not, "You can do it, God can help." The message is, "You can do nothing, but Jesus did everything." Believe it. Receive it. Put yourself (pride, ego, independence) to death and be amazed by what Jesus brings to life!

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To Equip & Encourage

Self Help Is Killing You (Good Friday)

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