Teaching: Dying to Self. Becoming the New Creature. Renewing Our Minds.
This is just the initial post addressing this subject because there’s much to cover. It is a critical part of growing in our relationship with God, stepping into our Kingdom identities and fulfilling the calling on our lives. However, I wanted to address it sooner rather than later since I mentioned in the post I Gave My Life to Jesus and Everything Changed that I felt I needed to “die to self” and I don’t want anyone picking up the wrong idea.
That phrase—“die to self”—is one I picked up from the sermons I was listening to. Because I wasn’t familiar with the Word, attending church or being properly discipled by a more mature Christian, I didn’t necessarily have the correct understanding of what that meant. As I’ve studied the Word more closely and God has been teaching me, I’ve realized that the Bible doesn’t actually instruct us to “die to self.” Instead, it speaks of becoming a new creature in Christ, walking in the Spirit not the flesh, and the renewing of our minds as the way we experience transformation and becoming more like Christ.
Where Did the Idea of Dying to Self Come From?
The phrase “die to self” is often used in Christian teachings to describe the need to let go of our fleshly desires, pride, and sinful nature in order to follow Jesus. It’s based on passages where Paul talks about being crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and walking in the Spirit not the flesh (Galatians 5:16) or where Jesus says that those who want to follow Him must “deny themselves and take up their cross” (Luke 9:23).
What the Bible Says
Instead of calling believers to “die to self,” Scripture tells us that when we are born again, we become new creatures in Christ:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
When we accept Christ, the old nature is already crucified with Him—it’s not something we are constantly trying to kill. Instead, our call is to live according to the new nature we’ve received, something that’s impossible for us to do on our own, which is why we are to walk in the Spirit.
What challenged me and I’ve come to realize is difficult for many other Christians is receiving all that Jesus did for us on the cross. We need the renewing of minds to learn to receive and drop what we learn from head to heart knowledge.
Paul also emphasizes the renewing of our minds as the process by which we live out this transformation:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
We renew our minds by reading and doing the Word of God. Again, this is something we aren’t designed to do on our own but with the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit.
You’re a Child of God
Remember I said it took me two years to give up my title of entrepreneur? I wrote that I would wake up at night asking, “If I’m not an entrepreneur, then who am I?” And every time, God answered me the same way: “You’re a child of God.”
At first, I struggled with that answer. I wanted to know what it meant—how it defined my purpose, my direction, and my identity. But God didn’t give me a definition or a roadmap. Instead, He simply told me who I was because it wasn’t about meaning—it was about being. Plus, what it meant was for me to discover by getting into the Word of God and getting to know my Father.
It took many years and going into the fiery furnace for me to confidently understand that part of my calling is in the marketplace and that my identity in Christ includes being an entrepreneur. But that wasn’t what God wanted me to focus on when I first became born again. He wasn’t concerned about what I was doing—He was transforming who I was.
That’s how God works. When we come to Him, our human tendency is to ask, “What’s next? What am I supposed to do?” But God is first focused on making us more like Christ before He does anything else.
God’s First Priority: Making Us Like Christ
Before God sends us out, before He reveals the details of our calling, and before He opens doors to the things we’re meant to do, He is focused on forming Christ in us. Again, something that’s impossible without the Holy Spirit, this highlights that living the life God has for us can’t be done without the Holy Spirit.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” (Romans 8:29)
This is partially why so many new believers feel like they are in a waiting period—God isn’t rushing to tell them what their career, ministry, or next steps should be. He is working on and healing their hearts, reshaping their desires, renewing their minds to reflect Christ, and calling them to walk in and overflow with the fruit of the Spirit.
When I wrestled with my identity and wanted to hold on to my title as an entrepreneur, I didn’t realize that I was still defining myself by what I did and accomplished rather than who I was in Christ. And that’s why God didn’t answer my follow-up question—because I needed to unlearn the mindset that my identity was tied to my work.
This is something every believer has to go through in some way. We all have identities that have been shaped by our past, our careers, our achievements, our failures, and the influences of others. And when we come to Christ, God begins a process of stripping away what we thought defined us so that we can be fully rooted in Him.
This is why renewing our minds is so critical. God isn’t trying to make us better versions of who we were before; He is raising and maturing us as new creatures in Christ. And that means learning to live from our new identity, not our old one.
The Irony of It All
The craziest part of me missing what He was saying and doing for so many years is that it’s exactly what He’s taught me to help others do. I spent so much time searching for my identity in what I did, not realizing that God was reshaping me to understand who I was. And now, my calling is to help others discover, understand, and communicate who they are—and author who they are becoming.
The very lesson I struggled to grasp for years is the foundation of what I now teach. It’s almost laughable how blind I was to it in my own life, but that’s the beauty of God’s process. He walks us through transformation so that we can later lead others through it.
What’s Next? Walking in the Spirit
This is just the beginning of this conversation. There is so much more to unpack about what it truly means to be a new creature in Christ and how we practically renew our minds. One of the most important aspects that I’ve only touched on is the role of the Holy Spirit in this entire process.
It’s one thing to recognize that we are made new and need to think differently, but how do we actually live that out? We can’t do it on our own. God never intended for us to rely on our own strength to renew our minds or to walk in our new nature. This is why Jesus told His disciples:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
The Holy Spirit is our guide, our teacher, advocate, and the power by which we live out the truth of who we are in Christ. He convicts, instructs, and enables us to actually walk in the Spirit rather than in the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Without Him, we will continue striving in our own effort, which leads to frustration and defeat. I tried doing it on my own strength and ended up backsliding. I received the baptism on the Holy Spirit in the fiery furnace and yes, it was a total game changer!!
In an upcoming teaching, we’ll dive deeper into the work of the Holy Spirit in renewing our minds and transforming our lives. We’ll explore how we surrender to His leading and what it means to truly walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (Romans 8:5-6).
If this post has challenged or encouraged you, I invite you to reflect on where you’ve been striving in your own strength rather than relying on the Spirit. Ask God to open your eyes to any ways you’ve been holding onto an old identity, and begin praying for greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life.
There’s so much more to come on this topic—because growing into who we are in Christ is a lifelong journey. But we don’t have to do it alone. We have the Holy Spirit leading the way.