Heed the Call of the Denial of Our Self-life.
Jesus Christ declared: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)
The call to follow Jesus Christ has never been an invitation to improve the natural life. It is a call to deny it. The pathway of true discipleship begins where self-reliance ends. Before the life of Christ can be fully expressed through a believer, confidence in the flesh must be brought to the cross and surrendered to Him.
This does not mean striving to become something through human effort, but learning to cease depending upon self and to trust wholly in Christ. The Spirit of God continually leads believers beyond dependence upon human ability into complete dependence upon the life of Christ dwelling within.