On the process of dying to self

[acomplishedartis]

We were lost and then He found us, for a while He let us think that we had a free will, until we finally figure out that we need him and that we haven't any freedom of will.

Some of us once had made an idol of fashion and popularity... Far away from society, walking on the lonely roads for days, sleeping behind the stars with an empty stomach, will purify anyone from such vanity's, you know...we humans tend to learn the hard way.
Some of us once had made an idol of money and unlimited power... A couple nights on the nicest jail with okay meals and a bunch of free time and free resources would probably cure us from such illusions; we well know... that we humans tend to ask for help until we have fallen on the deepest holes.

Dying to self is the hardest job we will ever have. And after a while of be walking the walk, we can come to think to really be doing such a great progress. But, are we really doing it?
What would you do, if they spit you in the face? What would you do if they muck at you and make you work unfairly and too hard? How would we react when they try to hypnotize us, and use us?

Well. Jesus in earth didn't react, he was able to anticipate what was coming to hit him, and rather than react he decided to conciously act... with compassion, mercy and forgiveness. He had the power to defend himself, but he didn't. He was the embodiment of love and He set the lesson and the example.

We should no longer wish to change the world but to hopefully overcome it and die to self in the process.
Who we really are is our deepest thoughts and what we wish toward others most of the time.
We are great sinners and future saints; we are who God says that we are!


Somebody that I know once built a kind of a long list of things that he thought that he really, really needed, and after a while everything in the list was met, plus a bunch of a few other useful things that he had not even thought about before. Then, from one week to the other, most of it was gone.
Before he left it all, he wrote a note:

In seven months, God gave me riches, Everything I could ask for; he granted, (thanks God I am not so materialistic...)
But now I leave everything to the poor and I am outta here
I have no more than what I can take with me and I don't really know what my future holds,
I am not afraid at all,

I keep on trying to build something spiritual, indestructible, imperishable; a building made of thoughts in order and well grounded, houses of invaluable architecture and gardens with delicious fruits; My heavenly Father always give me what I need and He teach me what I need to know at the propitious time.

Imagine Jesus walking the dirty streets of Jerusalem; while almost no one knows who he really is: part God – part man, with hunger, but with forces, with nothing but owner of EVERYTHING and then
He stands in front of you and sees you directly into your eyes and tells you:

''Just leave it all, and follow me''