Dying to self

Living a Christian life is hard.

It’s not just about me saying, “Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.” It’s not even just about putting Him at the centre of my life—though that’s where it all begins. Following Christ means more. It’s about how I live every single day. It's about the choices I make when no one’s watching. It’s about which voice I listen to when I’m pulled in different directions: His… or my own.

Every day, I stand at a crossroads. One path leads toward Christ. The other leads toward comfort, self, and temporary satisfaction. And more often than I’d like to admit, the road to Christ looks like the harder one.

It looks like saying no when everything in me wants to say yes.

It looks like turning down that experience, that substance, that temptation that promises psychedelic experiences or excitement—because I know my body and my soul are one. What I do with my body affects my soul, and my soul affects my body. I was made for something holy. I was made for more.

It looks like fighting the impure thoughts that come uninvited. Choosing not to entertain them, even when they seem harmless, even when no one else would know—because I want to honour God with my heart, mind, and soul.

But maybe following Christ isn’t always about saying no. Maybe it’s about learning to say yes.

Yes to Mass, even when the easier option is to sleep in or go away for the weekend.

Yes to prayer, even when I feel distracted or dry.

Yes to reading the Bible, even when nothing makes sense.

Yes to serving my local parish, even when people there are not the best.

Yes to obedience, even when it costs me something I want.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:24,

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Denying myself—this is the heart of imitating Christ. And it’s not just about big, dramatic sacrifices. It’s about the daily ones. The quiet ones. The ones no one sees. It’s about going against what the world says is normal or fun or freeing—and trusting that true freedom is found in Him.

Yes, it’s hard. But it's also beautiful.

Because with every “yes” to God, I become more like Christ.
With every “no” to sin, I draw closer to the person God made me to be. To be a saint.

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done.

That’s not just a line from a rote, memorized prayer—it’s a prayer for my heart.
It means: not my will, Lord, but Yours.
It means: I surrender what I want, and I ask You to shape my desires.
It means: Help me become the person You want me to be.

I keep thinking of the first verse in the Gospel of Luke. Mary, the Mother of God, told the angel Gabriel as her fiat, "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word."

It is a perfect yes to cooperate with His plan of salvation.

I want to learn more from her, to die to myself and to say yes to His plan in my life.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Amen.