Preferences – Being a disciple of Christ also means that you deny, you forgo, you give up many of your preferences for Christ. Before anything that is truly of God can be born, your own preferences have to die. Your desire to serve or lead in this type of church or that, has to be laid on the altar & sacrificed in order to receive Christ’s call and mission to this community.
Henry Blackaby says that when he is seeking the Lord’s direction and the Lord’s will, he has to reach the place where he can honestly go before the Lord with no will of his own in the matter. Then he is able to pray and find the Lord’s direction.
Paul was speaking to that when in Romans 12:1 he said, “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, to present yourself, a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God.
> Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
A disciple decides to be a follower of Christ. A disciple denies himself and chooses instead to serve another.
From Gene Gregory’s Sermon: What Does it Mean to Be a Follower of Christ