Faith Words: And when I die...

When I was in high school, one of my favorite bands was Blood, Sweat & Tears.  They had a song called "And When I Die."  Listening to the words today, it sounds like someone trying to be at peace with death and the afterlife.  But the words keep singing in my mind:  "and when I die and when I'm dead, dead and gone, there'll be one child born in this world to carry on, to carry on."

Part of becoming a Christian is dying to self and living for Christ.  Intellectually, I understand the principle but I have trouble practicing it.  I'll be going along, doing good from a place deep inside me, and then, out of nowhere, I start thinking selfish, self-centered thoughts, thoughts full of pride, seeking credit for my actions.  Why is that?!

I often have a conversation going on inside my head:

"I'm thankful for being able to do this or that for this person or that."

"Yeah, you deserve a lot of credit for being such a good servant - so selfless and hard-working!"

 "But no, God and Jesus deserve the credit, not me.  I'm doing this because the Spirit of God lives in me and prompts me to do the good works He planned for me to do long ago."

"Well, if you weren't such a good Christian, you wouldn't even think about doing those good works.  Somebody ought to tell you how important you are, to recognize you for all the wonderful things you do."

And on and on it goes.

Maybe the reason for this  is I'm not fully dead, dead and gone.  I haven't let the Christ-child really be born into this world to carry on.  The problem is I don't stay dead.  I die to self and then resurrect myself and my pride.  How do I stay dead to self?  For me, it's a daily, moment by moment, process - a constant action on a permanent decision to follow the example of Christ Jesus and die to self and let Christ live in me.

Knowing me, I'll still have that running conservation in my head.  But I'll keep praying that over all the noise, I'll hear the voice of the Spirit reminding me of the truth:  I am dead, dead and gone and have been raised like Christ through the power of God, so I may live a new life, reborn as Christ into this world to carry on to bring glory of the Father.

By faith in Christ,

Patrice

Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.