How to cope with your self - die and stay dead

One of life’s most difficult challenges is coping with our self – sin, insecurity, guilt and anxiety - I call them the big four – sinful addictions, nagging insecurities, crippling guilt, and paralyzing anxieties. Everybody deals with them. Where do they come from? Inside. Nothing good lives in me i.e. in my sinful nature. Jesus said “For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' " (Mark 7:21-23). C.S. Lewis was right when he wrote "Look for yourself and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay." Does that sound strange? It contradicts nearly every philosophy and theory of psychology about the self. I am familiar with the humanistic approaches because I have been teaching current psychotherapies to counselors in training for several years. The humanistic theories assume that human nature is good and the answer to problems with addictions, insecurity, guilt/depression, anxiety/stress lies within. They emphasize self-acceptance, self-fulfillment, self-actualization, etc. These ideas are so popular in mainstream culture some Christians accept it as true and even superimpose these notions on Christianity. But Jesus never taught such things. Jesus taught us to die to self and the older I get the more I understand why I need to die to myself. I am becoming increasingly aware of two things simultaneously – my own depravity and God’s amazing grace. When I look inside I see a heart that is desperately wicked – the cravings and desires of my sinful nature frighten me. I am capable of anything. At the same time, I am totally amazed by God’s grace and love. The blackness of my depravity is the backdrop of God’s grace and love. As my awareness of sin abounds, God’s grace super-abounds. That’s the best way I know to cope with myself - die and stay dead. The more I realize who I am the more I want to die and let Jesus live my life. If you don’t know who you really are you may not want to die. Luther wrote that man must come to a knowledge of himself, be terrified of himself, and be crushed as a prelude to receiving and appreciating God’s grace, forgiveness, and new life in Christ. I was crucified with Christ. I died with him and I want to stay dead. Staying dead is the most difficult part for me. I really don't know the best way to stay dead. Denying myself - it works sometimes. Avoiding triggers - yeah, sometimes. But my old man doesn't need a trigger to surface - he is stronger than me - I cannot control him or tame him or domesticate him - he wears me out! He's too much for me - I wish Jesus would just kill him or take him completely out of me so there would be no more struggle - O, I long for that day. Until then, I try to do what Paul said in Romans 6, 7, and 8. To "reckon" or "consider" myself dead - this way I don't respond because dead men don't lust - they aren't proud or rude or self-seeking - they are just dead. How can we cope with our self and the big four - sinful addictions, nagging insecurities, crippling guilt, and paralyzing anxieties? Jesus is the answer. My part is to die and stay dead. That's my prayer. I pray that I can just think of myself as a dead man. Dead to sin. Dead to law. Dead to the lure of the world system. One thing for sure - the answer does not reside in me - just sin. I want to die so Christ live my life.