A line from Christen

"Nothing that has yet to die will resurrect."
~Christen Ringle

I took this line from something Christen had written. The depth of the truth that is conveyed through this is more than I can attempt to communicate in a simple blog post. However, I would like to take a moment to consider its implications, however incomplete the thoughts may be. Feel free to comment here or on Facebook to continue the conversation on this:

In her writing, this phrase was in the context of dying to self, a theme on which she wrote often. She had an uncanny sense of her own innate selfishness. This, ironically (or perhaps fittingly), is what made her one of the humblest people I have ever known. Follow my logic: Selfish people don't know they're selfish. They don't have that kind of insight to themselves. There are some selfish people who will admit they, in fact, are selfish, but they are simply using the words without recognizing what they mean. The ability to recognize selfishness in yourself require that you take a step outside of yourself. That is impossible to do without at least some measure of humility, and humility only comes from God.

Therefore, if you are very aware of your own selfish impulses: 1) You are more likely to fight those impulses and do the selfless rather than selfish thing and 2) You repent before God of your selfish motives and desires, which brings about true humility. The fact that Christen so often wrote on and repented of her selfish desires and motives reveals the deep humility she consistently pursued, which was really just the fruit of her endlessly seeking to know Jesus better.

Looking at the quote again, I can see that it coincides well with Scripture. Jesus bids us to come and die - die to ourselves, die to our personal ambitions, die to our pride, and yes, sometimes actually physically die for the cause of the gospel. Yet her quote also ends with great hope. Though there is death, there is also resurrection. As I was preparing to give a talk on suffering recently, I saw how many verses in the New Testament directly connect suffering alongside Christ with being later glorified with Him. It shows the real purpose of suffering as well as dying to self (the 'cost' of discipleship) - displaying Christ as our only true treasure and looking to glory for the fulfillment of all His promises to us as His children.

I draw all these conclusions, write all these words, and yet she could communicate it all in an 8-word sentence. You know who else communicated a powerful message with 8 words? Jonah.