“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Mark 8:34

Something must happen to us for us to be willing to take up our cross. Notice that Jesus introduces here a new self. If I deny myself, there is the “me” who is denying myself, and there is the “me” who is being denied. There is a denying self, and a denied self.⁣

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What’s the difference? When the old, denied self looks at the opposition, shame, suffering, and death Jesus calls for, it says, “No! I will not do that!” That old self loves human approval, honor, comfort, and life more than it loves Jesus.⁣

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But the new, denying self says to the old, world-loving self, “You are not in charge any longer. I love Jesus more than human approval, honor, comfort, and life. So, I am ready to endure opposition, shame, suffering, and death. There is more gain in following Jesus, even with suffering, than there is in walking away from him, even with ten thousand earthly benefits.” That’s the way the new self talks.⁣

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That’s the command in Mark 8:34 (and in Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23!): You are a new self. Act like it. Deny the old, comfort-craving self and embrace the superior joy of knowing Jesus, no matter how high the cost on this earth.⁣  -John Piper