preach the Gospel to yourself daily

I use this phrase often: Preach the Gospel to yourself daily. But just what does this mean?

People often seem confused by the Christian meaning of "Gospel." I sometimes ask those who say they've trusted Jesus to tell me the Gospel, and many are immediately unsure what to say.

When I ask this, I'm not being mean, nor am I looking for a pat presentation. I hope to hear the story of Jesus and what He's done for us rebels against God by living the perfect life we couldn't, dying the death we deserved in our place and returning to life, and that He's coming again to make everything new. There are many ways to talk about Jesus' story through all of Scripture, and I love that a few children have told me His story with relative clarity.

Yet to preach the Gospel to yourself, and to others, we need to move past mere head knowledge of His story to an understanding of how everyday life is affected by who Jesus is and what He has done, is doing and will do. We need more than facts to give us hope and strength in a broken world. In the every day will we focus on the stuff of life, or the Lord of life in all His beauty and power?

Paul Tripp, who I greatly respect, gives an excellent explanation of what preaching the Gospel to yourself daily should look like, and that we must do so to avoid believing the lies we are prone to tell ourselves. He recommends four deep considerations as we meditate on Jesus and His truth:
1) gaze on Jesus' beauty
2) remember one's identity as a child of God
3) rest in Jesus' presence, power and provision
4) act as you rely on Him

Enjoy the interview below. (Fear not, this truth isn't just for pastors.) You can read the related full article here.