bye bye self

I was challenged by this portion of my devotional this morning...
Any message which makes the Cross redundant is anti-Christian. The original sin, pride, is behind my "poor self-image," for I felt that I deserved better than I got, which is exactly what Eve felt! So it was pride, not poor self-image, that had to go. If I'm so beautiful and lovable, what was Jesus doing up there, nailed to the cross and crowned with thorns? Why all that hideous suffering for the pure Son of God? Here's why: There was no other way to deliver us from the hell of our own proud self-loving selves, no other way out of the bondage of self-pity and self-congratulation. How shall we take our stand beneath the cross of Jesus and continue to love the selves that put Him there? How can we survey the wondrous cross and at the same time feed our pride? No. It won't work. Jesus put it simply: If you want to be My disciple, you must leave self behind, take up the cross, and follow Me.
I'm pretty good at all of the things that this passage says I should surrender...Pride, poor self-image, self-pity, self-congratulation...Yikes. I'm so thankful I have a Savior who has already paid the price for this, despite the fact that I in no way deserve it. God doesn't expect perfection, but He does expect me to try, and so I am committing to put forth more effort in these areas. All I am doing by maintaining these acts of self is becoming more a part of the "world," which is exactly what I am supposed to resist. So with that said, bye bye self...hello grace, and mercy and all other "cross-ly" things.