What is "Self-Denial"?

It's not just giving up something, making resolutions to change, committing less sin, doing religious activities, or even punishing yourself for all your sins in the past. It's so much more: it's renouncing your very self! YOU must get off the "throne" of your life (which you never had the right to be on), and GOD must get on the throne. It's a matter of who has the ultimate control!