December 20th, 2024
By: Kara Wallis
More of Jesus, Less of Me
This is a prayer I’ve been praying for the past few months, and as selfless and eloquent as it sounds, or as much as I truly mean it when I’m praying, I think we sometimes don’t understand what that actually looks like or feels like while that prayer is being answered. When we pray “more of You and less of me”, we don’t think about how hard that is, as humans, fighting against this flesh. I am guilty of praying for something, then when God is working that out in my life and it’s more messy, hard, and painful than I would have anticipated, I question what I have done to deserve this when the truth is God is cutting away, working, and doing exactly what I asked. He’s trying to help me be more like Him and less like me.
Galatians 5:24 says,”Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucify, in its very definition means to put to death by nailing and binding to a cross. For us to be able to do this to our flesh and be more like Christ, we have to have more of Jesus! During this Christmas season and reflecting on celebrating our Savior being born has made me think about a person that I believe lived their life with this very posture.
Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now, there may be some things that get old or tiresome about Christmas, but this miracle performed where the hope of the world was given to a young girl to have and help raise, never gets old. Luke 1:35 says,”The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Now, I’m sure that Mary, more than likely, had always planned on getting married and having a family like most Jewish girls, but when she encountered God and He revealed His plans for her, the life she had envisioned for herself was gone. She had no way of knowing what this change in her life would mean exactly, but she didn’t argue, ignore, or try to hold on to her own plans. She humbly accepted what God had for her because she knew her life belonged to Him. In Luke 1:36-38 it says,”Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary saw herself as God’s servant. She didn’t come to this decision on a whim, she had lived her life in this posture of being a servant and choosing God in all things and over all things. This plan that had been put before her was no easy task. She was a young girl now pregnant and not married. The ridicule and the shame she endured from how the situation looked to everyone else, but chose to be a servant to the Lord anyway.
Now, how do we respond when God brings changes into our lives? I would love to be able to say that with every change that comes, I respond humbly with I am your servant Lord, but that isn’t always the case. Through this prayer of wanting more of Jesus and less of me, He is so merciful, gracious, and loving and walking with me every step of the way. Even the times when I am struggling He is so patient and right there in the trenches with me and I am so very humbled and grateful for that.
I love the verse Jeremiah 29:11: ”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” When I am struggling I hold tight to this promise. I aspire to be so close to Jesus, that regardless of what life brings, I can be more like Him and less like me! I hope and pray that each of you have a very blessed Christmas!
More of Jesus, Less of Me
This is a prayer I’ve been praying for the past few months, and as selfless and eloquent as it sounds, or as much as I truly mean it when I’m praying, I think we sometimes don’t understand what that actually looks like or feels like while that prayer is being answered. When we pray “more of You and less of me”, we don’t think about how hard that is, as humans, fighting against this flesh. I am guilty of praying for something, then when God is working that out in my life and it’s more messy, hard, and painful than I would have anticipated, I question what I have done to deserve this when the truth is God is cutting away, working, and doing exactly what I asked. He’s trying to help me be more like Him and less like me.
Galatians 5:24 says,”Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucify, in its very definition means to put to death by nailing and binding to a cross. For us to be able to do this to our flesh and be more like Christ, we have to have more of Jesus! During this Christmas season and reflecting on celebrating our Savior being born has made me think about a person that I believe lived their life with this very posture.
Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now, there may be some things that get old or tiresome about Christmas, but this miracle performed where the hope of the world was given to a young girl to have and help raise, never gets old. Luke 1:35 says,”The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Now, I’m sure that Mary, more than likely, had always planned on getting married and having a family like most Jewish girls, but when she encountered God and He revealed His plans for her, the life she had envisioned for herself was gone. She had no way of knowing what this change in her life would mean exactly, but she didn’t argue, ignore, or try to hold on to her own plans. She humbly accepted what God had for her because she knew her life belonged to Him. In Luke 1:36-38 it says,”Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary saw herself as God’s servant. She didn’t come to this decision on a whim, she had lived her life in this posture of being a servant and choosing God in all things and over all things. This plan that had been put before her was no easy task. She was a young girl now pregnant and not married. The ridicule and the shame she endured from how the situation looked to everyone else, but chose to be a servant to the Lord anyway.
Now, how do we respond when God brings changes into our lives? I would love to be able to say that with every change that comes, I respond humbly with I am your servant Lord, but that isn’t always the case. Through this prayer of wanting more of Jesus and less of me, He is so merciful, gracious, and loving and walking with me every step of the way. Even the times when I am struggling He is so patient and right there in the trenches with me and I am so very humbled and grateful for that.
I love the verse Jeremiah 29:11: ”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” When I am struggling I hold tight to this promise. I aspire to be so close to Jesus, that regardless of what life brings, I can be more like Him and less like me! I hope and pray that each of you have a very blessed Christmas!
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