In my own life the pull of pride and ego is so strong, so I have to intentionally surrender my life to God every morning. Luke 9:23 says, “If you want to be my follower, then you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you hang on to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, then you will find it.” The key word is “daily.” Most of you know I pray the same prayer every morning. It is the most important prayer I pray because this prayer determines the quality of my day. That prayer is this: “Today, let there be more of Jesus and less of me.” In that day when I find myself getting mad because I didn’t get my way or because someone didn’t treat me nice or wanting God to zap some folks for being jerks, I step back and remember, “Let there be more of Jesus and less of me.” Somehow if you can keep your eyes on Jesus and respond to others in the Jesus way and honor Him, life just seems to be better. My father-in law used to say that the thing about marriage was that it was so daily; you have to give to it everyday to keep it strong. The thing about the struggle between it’s all about me and it’s not all about me is that it is so daily. You have to surrender your pride and ego everyday. “More of Jesus and less of me.” Let that be your daily prayer.
– Dr. Tim Thompson