The Most Challenging Death

I found this blog post very interesting and challenging:

http://apprentice2jesus.com/2011/11/09/three-martyrdoms-white/

I suspect that the green is actually the most challenging form of martyrdom. I also suspect that it is crucial to seeing the kinds of changes in our world that we are all praying for. Are we willing to die to ourselves and welcome others into our lives even if they aren't happy, healthy, holy, and handsome? "Evangelism," one of my professors liked to say, "is messy." How dare I protect myself from unpleasant people when Jesus has already died for them? Jesus died for my messed-up soul.  What can I do but lay down my redeemed life, through day-to-day actions, for others? How can I pursue selfish pleasures and distractions when my life was purchased at so great a price?

Please don't think I'm already there. I have a lot of "dieing" that still needs to happen. But I am slowly changing, I'm taking deliberate steps in that direction, and I ask the Holy Spirit to continue to mold and shape me more into the image of Christ.