How would you describe one who is dead to self, in real-life, practical terms?

In truth the concept of dead to self has always been a bit confusing for many. The way I understand it being dead to self is less about the loss of self but rather the gaining of that abundant life Christ has come to give. Being dead to self is the notion of losing all the insecurities of life, those things that hold us in the patterns of being overly concerned with things that rob us of that life. In myself I want all that is in my own best interest with little to no regard for that of anyone else. When I am dead to self I challenge that natural compulsion and in tern live sacrificially as a servant. The whole notion reminds me of a story I was told of a young man climbing a hill to reach a great and wise guru. When he reaches the top of the mountain, he asks the teacher to tell him how to live as a good man, to live without any form of malice. The guru responds with an allegory. “There are two dogs that battle within each one of us. First there is the black dog; he seeks to devour to take all that is his desire. It is the will of the black dog to seek only that which benefits itself and will claim many victims that stand in its way. Secondly there is the white dog; he seeks to find harmony in life. His desire is to bring unity and peace to all that is around him. It is the will of the white dog to seek a servant life that is in tern blessed with friendships and wholeness. These two powerful dogs battle within for dominance”. The young student asks the teacher “which dog will win?” “The one you feed the most”, states the master. This allegory works well for us as well. We have our old selfish nature battling our new nature and the one that we give most attention to wins. So if I live as I am dead to my self, meaning my old nature, then my new nature grows more dominant and the battle becomes a little easier. However the opposite is also true.

Questions to Discuss

How does choice or volition depend upon thought and feeling? Why can’t we just change our will? (“Human life does not run by will alone”!)

Volition depends on thought and feeling simply put because you cannot make any sort of decision without first have a thought of some kind and thus having some feeling accompanying that thought. In truth it is probably the most rational argument for personal responsibility that I have heard in a very long time. All too often we see individuals and perhaps even as corporate bodies abdicating responsibility for decisions made. This of course challenges the “I don’t know why I did it, it just happened”.

We can’t just simply change our will because we need to first change our thoughts and feelings. If we believe that our thoughts and feelings to some extent govern our wills, then there needs to be a deeper soul searching in order to affect any kind of long lasting change to our volition. Otherwise we are destined to repeat old patterns. Change the thoughts and our feelings towards those thoughts so there is proper perspective and there will be a dramatic affect on volition.