“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” Romans 8:13 (NRSV).  The Christ who took up the cross and died teaches us how to die.  His Spirit shows us what is not yet dead that needs to die.  This death is not an end within itself, but is the means of our life.  The kernel of wheat cannot rise until it dies.  This is the paradoxical path to abundant life.  Don’t shrink back from it.  This is not something we do by human will power, for it is “by the Spirit you put to death” everything contrary to the principles of life.  The Spirit guides this dying process.