What do you think?
Rate this book
Die Young: Burying Your Self in Christ
You’re Never Too Old to Die Young In a world that tempts you to chase happiness through self-centeredness, Hayley and Michael DiMarco shoot straight with you. Living for yourself will destroy you, and the only path to real life is through death to self. Here, the DiMarcos give you the rewarding (and sometimes counterintuitive) reasons for choosing to live for Jesus as you dig deep and bury yourself in Christ.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2012
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Hayley DiMarco
81 books83 followersHayley DiMarco is the best-selling author of over 30 books, including God Girl, Mean Girls, and Die Young. She and her husband, Michael, run Hungry Planet, a company focused on producing books that combine hard-hitting biblical truth with cutting-edge design in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 15, 2014
Dying to self is not a good selling point and it is not a popular teaching in our churches. However dying to self is very relevant in our christian walk with others and our relationship to the father. When we die to ourselves in our relationship with others, we are counting someone else better and this is so relevant in our marriages. Jesus teachings is a reflection of what dying to self looks like. With our relationship with the Father, dying to self reflects our faith in his authority. Dying to self is more about giving instead of getting so when we make a relationship about what I can get instead about what I can give, that relationship is already doomed, no matter who it is. Dying to self requires the gospel of Christ. It is only with the gospel that by dying to self we can be made new. Each 7 chapters reflect that from death to new life, down is the new up, less is the new more, weak is the new strong, slavery is the new freedom, confession is the new innocence and red is the new white.
From death to new life removes self and replaces it with God and by removing self,we have true contentment.
From down to the new up is when I come to the end of me and all I have is God. When all is stripped away, you have nothing to cling to and redemption becomes that much sweeter.
When less is the new more I have more self-control instead of being out of control. When having less becomes a practice, my wants don't become needs that rule me. More is always in competition with God and with others which always leads to resentment, fear and envy.
When weak is the new strong, I have surrendered to the character of God. My weakness becomes God's strength proved in my life. Waiting becomes a virtue.
When slavery becomes the new freedom we are not ruled by our desires but the love of Christ.
When confession is the new innocence, we demonstrate our need for a saviour, a healer, a comforter and walk in repentance towards the one who supplies our need.
The red becomes the new white because of our justification in Christ. We are in Christ when we die to our self.
The husband and wife authors reflected their own dying to self and what that looked like for each of them. I appreciated the gender aspect of dying to self as while as being in a marriage relationship. Being in a marriage relationship is where we are tested on so many levels. We are squeezed and what is in our hearts, is what is revealed in us. The good news is God does use that to glorify him and to bring others to his kingdom.
From death to new life removes self and replaces it with God and by removing self,we have true contentment.
From down to the new up is when I come to the end of me and all I have is God. When all is stripped away, you have nothing to cling to and redemption becomes that much sweeter.
When less is the new more I have more self-control instead of being out of control. When having less becomes a practice, my wants don't become needs that rule me. More is always in competition with God and with others which always leads to resentment, fear and envy.
When weak is the new strong, I have surrendered to the character of God. My weakness becomes God's strength proved in my life. Waiting becomes a virtue.
When slavery becomes the new freedom we are not ruled by our desires but the love of Christ.
When confession is the new innocence, we demonstrate our need for a saviour, a healer, a comforter and walk in repentance towards the one who supplies our need.
The red becomes the new white because of our justification in Christ. We are in Christ when we die to our self.
The husband and wife authors reflected their own dying to self and what that looked like for each of them. I appreciated the gender aspect of dying to self as while as being in a marriage relationship. Being in a marriage relationship is where we are tested on so many levels. We are squeezed and what is in our hearts, is what is revealed in us. The good news is God does use that to glorify him and to bring others to his kingdom.
January 22, 2012
In their new book, Die Young: Burying yourself in Christ, authors Hayley and Michael Dimarco have put together a book that challenges Christians to die young and bury themselves in Christ. This is a book exhorting us as Christians to die to sin and live in Christ.
The message of Die young is radical, but only radical in the sense that it shatters the way we live as Christians. This book could easily be a prequel to David Platt’s book Radical. “Die Young is about that kind of death, the dying-to-self kind of death, the ‘living sacrifice’ that Paul wrote to the Romans about in Romans 12. This ability to deny yourself so that you don’t serve your desires over his (p. 13).” Throughout the book we are constantly presented with bible saturated paradigm shifting illustrations of what the bible commands the Christians life to be. Death is the new life, Down is the new up, less is the new more, weak is the new strong, slavery in the new freedom, confession is the new innocence, red is the new white.
There are two things that I found very helpful about this book. One, was everything written in the book is deeply rooted in scripture. Everything idea they present is a restatement of what is found in the Bible. I found this very cool, also a lot of the verses they used are the ones people brush off as not for today, or that doesn’t apply to me type of verse. The second thing was the transparency of the stories they shared throughout the book. They share honestly the struggles they have had and do have with the truths presented. Hayley says, The more I buy the better I feel, at least for the moment but soon all that stuff starts to make me feel bloated and out of control. I ask myself why I look to stuff to fulfill all my needs when God is all-sufficient. I guess I have yet to fully believe that, as long as I go elsewhere for the “more” I desire. Each chapter is filled with stories and the author’s struggles and victories of the truths presented.
Overall, Die Young – Burying yourself in Christ is a fantastic book. There are a lot of catchy phrases in the book which make them easy to remember and fun to read. My copy is filled with highlights and underlines of all the great things said. Die Young will give you a vision to dig deeper and bury yourself in Christ, and find contentment, safety, freedom and victory in living for him.
The message of Die young is radical, but only radical in the sense that it shatters the way we live as Christians. This book could easily be a prequel to David Platt’s book Radical. “Die Young is about that kind of death, the dying-to-self kind of death, the ‘living sacrifice’ that Paul wrote to the Romans about in Romans 12. This ability to deny yourself so that you don’t serve your desires over his (p. 13).” Throughout the book we are constantly presented with bible saturated paradigm shifting illustrations of what the bible commands the Christians life to be. Death is the new life, Down is the new up, less is the new more, weak is the new strong, slavery in the new freedom, confession is the new innocence, red is the new white.
There are two things that I found very helpful about this book. One, was everything written in the book is deeply rooted in scripture. Everything idea they present is a restatement of what is found in the Bible. I found this very cool, also a lot of the verses they used are the ones people brush off as not for today, or that doesn’t apply to me type of verse. The second thing was the transparency of the stories they shared throughout the book. They share honestly the struggles they have had and do have with the truths presented. Hayley says, The more I buy the better I feel, at least for the moment but soon all that stuff starts to make me feel bloated and out of control. I ask myself why I look to stuff to fulfill all my needs when God is all-sufficient. I guess I have yet to fully believe that, as long as I go elsewhere for the “more” I desire. Each chapter is filled with stories and the author’s struggles and victories of the truths presented.
Overall, Die Young – Burying yourself in Christ is a fantastic book. There are a lot of catchy phrases in the book which make them easy to remember and fun to read. My copy is filled with highlights and underlines of all the great things said. Die Young will give you a vision to dig deeper and bury yourself in Christ, and find contentment, safety, freedom and victory in living for him.
January 20, 2012
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to dig your own grave? For real though. We use the phrase ‘Your going to dig your own grave if you_____’ metaphorically all the time. I suspect there have been some throughout history who have literally had to dig their own grave six feet in the ground at gun point. How often do we consider the fact that in a way this is what Christ is asking us to do at the moment we trust him as savior and each day we live as a redeemed child of God?
In their new book, Die Young: Burying Yourself in Christ, seasoned authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco are calling all Christians to die young and bury themselves in Christ. This is a book about living as dead to sin and alive to Christ. Black may be the new pink and 40 maybe the new 30 but for the Christian death is the new life. “People bury themselves in things they hope will save them, but the only one who can truly be saved is the one who is buried in Christ (p. 18).”
Die Young is all about self-denial. Not in a monastic asceticism sort of way by removing yourself from society and the comforts of life. “Die Young is about that kind of death, the dying-to-self kind of death, the ‘living sacrifice’ that Paul wrote to the Romans about in Romans 12. This ability to deny yourself so that you don’t serve your desires over his (p. 13).”
Through a series of seven chapters that present implications of the gospel in the life of the believer, the DiMarco’s present aspects of the Christian life in the form of statements that reverse how we might naturally think about things. This seven fold picture begins with the reality that for life in Christ to begin we must first die to ourselves. Death is the new life. Christ died to sin (our sin) and rose again to new life. When we respond to his gospel invitation in faith we make a decision to die to ourselves and are buried with Christ in His death to our sin and we are given the new life that He accomplished in His resurrection. Christ’s death and life become our death and life.
Chapters two through six cover five more areas in which the gospel reverses how we might naturally think about things in this life. Down is the new Up deals with concept of living humbly before God and others. “It’s from a lowly position of self-awareness and sin that we are saved because God reaches down and touches us in our need (p. 45).” Less is the new More deals with our desire for stuff and our hearts desire to make idols out of it – even the good stuff God blesses us with. Everything we have comes from God but we can ask from it what it cannot give us (and only God can) when we turn it into an idol. Our hearts desire should be to give from what we have been given instead of hoarding and wasting it. By giving more we are dying to our desire to keep what we have. “It is the deep desire within us to get more that giving is mean to kill (p. 91).” Weak is the new Strong is a recognition that we cannot do life on our own and that we cannot even die to sin on our own. Once we recognize that we are weak then God can show us his strength. In Slavery is the new Freedom we see that being a slave to Christ is what brings us true freedom in this life and allows us to enjoy it in the life to come. When we become free in Christ we become free from the death (separation from God) that slavery to sin brings. Slavery to Christ brings with it freedom from the condemnation of God when we were in our sins (Rom. 8:1). “This is the freedom that slavery (to Christ) brings, freedom from the condemnation that ought to come from sin but doesn’t because of the blood of Christ (p. 123).” When we are slaves to sin we receive the result death brings (separation from God) which is a lack of freedom from God’s judgment on our lives. Finally, in Confession is the new Innocence we are comforted in the reality that when we sin we have an advocate with the Father in Christ so that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive because we have been united with Christ’s death and burial to sin and share in the new life His resurrection brings. We need to confess our sin at the time we respond to the gospel and daily as we walk with Christ. Confession is the cure to the guilt that sin brings with it.
Whether or not the DiMarco’s intended to do so, the final chapter, Red is the new White, offers both a conclusion to the book of counterintuitive statements about the Christian life but also a complementary statement to the first – death is the new life. Throughout Scripture there is a consistent witness to the reality that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (ESV – Heb. 9:22).” Red is the new White demonstrates for us that when we are covered in the blood of Christ we are made white as snow (Isa. 1:18). With Christ’s death there is shed blood. In Christ we are covered in it and we have new life in Him. Thus, “the blood is our bleach (p. 170).” Death is the new life and red is the new white are complimentary statements that serve as fitting book ends to this encouraging book.
There are two things that were really helpful in this book. First, it is evident page after page that this is a book deeply grounded in Scripture. Almost every page not only cites Scripture but quotes verse after verse. The words of the authors and Scripture are woven almost seamlessly together. Second, each chapter has a number of short stories from the lives of Hayley and Michael about how they have struggled with and applied the truths of each chapter. These are not superficial stories but are very transparent and readers will find it very refreshing to read. At times they seem to chop up sections of the chapters and you are not sure if you should read them and then move on or finish the paragraph in the text and then go back and read them. Nevertheless they are helpful.
Die Young is a great book that will refresh your soul. The author’s honesty is most helpful. The chapter titles are catchy and thus easy to remember allowing you to return to reflection on their content. So pick up your shovels and dig your grave. Because death is the new life and red is the new white. Dig your grave where you will bury yourself in Christ, die to sin and live under the blood of Christ that makes you white as snow and free in Christ.
In their new book, Die Young: Burying Yourself in Christ, seasoned authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco are calling all Christians to die young and bury themselves in Christ. This is a book about living as dead to sin and alive to Christ. Black may be the new pink and 40 maybe the new 30 but for the Christian death is the new life. “People bury themselves in things they hope will save them, but the only one who can truly be saved is the one who is buried in Christ (p. 18).”
Die Young is all about self-denial. Not in a monastic asceticism sort of way by removing yourself from society and the comforts of life. “Die Young is about that kind of death, the dying-to-self kind of death, the ‘living sacrifice’ that Paul wrote to the Romans about in Romans 12. This ability to deny yourself so that you don’t serve your desires over his (p. 13).”
Through a series of seven chapters that present implications of the gospel in the life of the believer, the DiMarco’s present aspects of the Christian life in the form of statements that reverse how we might naturally think about things. This seven fold picture begins with the reality that for life in Christ to begin we must first die to ourselves. Death is the new life. Christ died to sin (our sin) and rose again to new life. When we respond to his gospel invitation in faith we make a decision to die to ourselves and are buried with Christ in His death to our sin and we are given the new life that He accomplished in His resurrection. Christ’s death and life become our death and life.
Chapters two through six cover five more areas in which the gospel reverses how we might naturally think about things in this life. Down is the new Up deals with concept of living humbly before God and others. “It’s from a lowly position of self-awareness and sin that we are saved because God reaches down and touches us in our need (p. 45).” Less is the new More deals with our desire for stuff and our hearts desire to make idols out of it – even the good stuff God blesses us with. Everything we have comes from God but we can ask from it what it cannot give us (and only God can) when we turn it into an idol. Our hearts desire should be to give from what we have been given instead of hoarding and wasting it. By giving more we are dying to our desire to keep what we have. “It is the deep desire within us to get more that giving is mean to kill (p. 91).” Weak is the new Strong is a recognition that we cannot do life on our own and that we cannot even die to sin on our own. Once we recognize that we are weak then God can show us his strength. In Slavery is the new Freedom we see that being a slave to Christ is what brings us true freedom in this life and allows us to enjoy it in the life to come. When we become free in Christ we become free from the death (separation from God) that slavery to sin brings. Slavery to Christ brings with it freedom from the condemnation of God when we were in our sins (Rom. 8:1). “This is the freedom that slavery (to Christ) brings, freedom from the condemnation that ought to come from sin but doesn’t because of the blood of Christ (p. 123).” When we are slaves to sin we receive the result death brings (separation from God) which is a lack of freedom from God’s judgment on our lives. Finally, in Confession is the new Innocence we are comforted in the reality that when we sin we have an advocate with the Father in Christ so that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive because we have been united with Christ’s death and burial to sin and share in the new life His resurrection brings. We need to confess our sin at the time we respond to the gospel and daily as we walk with Christ. Confession is the cure to the guilt that sin brings with it.
Whether or not the DiMarco’s intended to do so, the final chapter, Red is the new White, offers both a conclusion to the book of counterintuitive statements about the Christian life but also a complementary statement to the first – death is the new life. Throughout Scripture there is a consistent witness to the reality that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (ESV – Heb. 9:22).” Red is the new White demonstrates for us that when we are covered in the blood of Christ we are made white as snow (Isa. 1:18). With Christ’s death there is shed blood. In Christ we are covered in it and we have new life in Him. Thus, “the blood is our bleach (p. 170).” Death is the new life and red is the new white are complimentary statements that serve as fitting book ends to this encouraging book.
There are two things that were really helpful in this book. First, it is evident page after page that this is a book deeply grounded in Scripture. Almost every page not only cites Scripture but quotes verse after verse. The words of the authors and Scripture are woven almost seamlessly together. Second, each chapter has a number of short stories from the lives of Hayley and Michael about how they have struggled with and applied the truths of each chapter. These are not superficial stories but are very transparent and readers will find it very refreshing to read. At times they seem to chop up sections of the chapters and you are not sure if you should read them and then move on or finish the paragraph in the text and then go back and read them. Nevertheless they are helpful.
Die Young is a great book that will refresh your soul. The author’s honesty is most helpful. The chapter titles are catchy and thus easy to remember allowing you to return to reflection on their content. So pick up your shovels and dig your grave. Because death is the new life and red is the new white. Dig your grave where you will bury yourself in Christ, die to sin and live under the blood of Christ that makes you white as snow and free in Christ.
Read
July 7, 2024Every once in awhile a book comes along that is a diamond amongst semi precious stones. Die Young is one of these diamonds!
Such a short little book–just 7 chapters and 173 pages–but wow what great truths and convictions it holds! This book takes common Bible passages and really breaks them down and shows how they apply to your life–all based around the theme of dying to self and the paradoxes that it brings. Everything from knocking yourself off your high horse, to the sin of not having self control over things like food, to the wrong things with being a perfectionist are discussed. I was so convicted 75 pages in that I wrote this Moms of Faith devotional about the things that I learned and applied to my own life.
Such a great book–I’m now recommending it to all my friends and family offline as well as on. If you’re looking to grow, to stretch, and to learn how to find true happiness and contentment then this is a must read!
Such a short little book–just 7 chapters and 173 pages–but wow what great truths and convictions it holds! This book takes common Bible passages and really breaks them down and shows how they apply to your life–all based around the theme of dying to self and the paradoxes that it brings. Everything from knocking yourself off your high horse, to the sin of not having self control over things like food, to the wrong things with being a perfectionist are discussed. I was so convicted 75 pages in that I wrote this Moms of Faith devotional about the things that I learned and applied to my own life.
Such a great book–I’m now recommending it to all my friends and family offline as well as on. If you’re looking to grow, to stretch, and to learn how to find true happiness and contentment then this is a must read!
October 28, 2021
If you think your sin(s) is of such magnitude that God cannot save and this Christian life is not for you because you're "too far gone". Think again. This book will help take you out of your head and help you see the bigger and grander schemes of things you are part of.
Though some of the scenarios explained, I didn't relate to. The ones that did however were spot on.
Though some of the scenarios explained, I didn't relate to. The ones that did however were spot on.
November 2, 2021
I loved this book! I was drawn to it because I was wondering what it means to die to self.
I learned that dying to self means removing me as the center of my world. When I’m freed from being consumed with my own significance, I’m able to accept that others matter more than I do.
I learned that dying to self means removing me as the center of my world. When I’m freed from being consumed with my own significance, I’m able to accept that others matter more than I do.
January 1, 2012
Growing up, I have always admired the writings of Hayley and Michael DiMarco , they reach out to teens and young adults in such a way that it draws not only Christian teens but also non-christians into reading their books , they target issues that others may see as Edgy Content and non-Christian like but it is issues that even Christian teens face. We are just like worldly teens except for having the knowledge that God is real , some of us have morals and values set at God's standards but I know plenty of christian teens that have fallen trapped in the world views.
When I saw this book Die Young, the title grabbed me. Hayley and Michael have joined forces to reach both the male and female audience about becoming Born Again in Christ , by giving our all to him and in this book they have used the metaphor of dying in Christ and being risen again -resurected in God's light and his world. Filled with personal ancedotes and eulogies of Hayley and Michael with each chapter , this book reaches all ages. .
Living for yourself, they say, will destroy you. The only path to real life is through death—a death to self that frees people rescued by Jesus to live with the fearless love and rock-solid hope that he intended.
Based on the premise that the gospel turns life upside down, the DiMarcos explain the paradoxes that result: death is the new life; less is the new more; weak is the new strong; slavery is the new freedom. Their relatable, contemporary style packs a solid biblical punch, as they examine what the life and death of Christ means for those who have given their lives to him. This book will give readers a vision to dig deeper and bury themselves in Christ and to find contentment, safety, freedom, and victory in living for him.
When I saw this book Die Young, the title grabbed me. Hayley and Michael have joined forces to reach both the male and female audience about becoming Born Again in Christ , by giving our all to him and in this book they have used the metaphor of dying in Christ and being risen again -resurected in God's light and his world. Filled with personal ancedotes and eulogies of Hayley and Michael with each chapter , this book reaches all ages. .
Living for yourself, they say, will destroy you. The only path to real life is through death—a death to self that frees people rescued by Jesus to live with the fearless love and rock-solid hope that he intended.
Based on the premise that the gospel turns life upside down, the DiMarcos explain the paradoxes that result: death is the new life; less is the new more; weak is the new strong; slavery is the new freedom. Their relatable, contemporary style packs a solid biblical punch, as they examine what the life and death of Christ means for those who have given their lives to him. This book will give readers a vision to dig deeper and bury themselves in Christ and to find contentment, safety, freedom, and victory in living for him.
January 17, 2012
My complete review can be read at Blogging Theologically:
Big cars, big money, big houses… these are many of the elements of what’s considered “success,” both outside the Church and (depending on who you talk to) within. We chase after the next promotion and we switch jobs as soon as the old one stops satisfying. We seek happiness in the next toy when the old one isn’t nearly as sparkly and bankroll it on a piece of plastic. We’ve buried ourselves under debt in the pursuit of happiness and have nothing to show for it.
But this is not what life is to be for the Christian. We’re not to be pursuing a life of self-exaltation—we are to put our pursuit of these things to death. We are to bury ourselves in Christ. This is the point of Hayley and Michael DiMarco’s new book, Die Young. In this book, the DiMarcos take the pursuit of self head on as they examine the paradoxical world of the Kingdom of God, where death brings life, less means more, weak is strong and slavery to brings freedom...
Big cars, big money, big houses… these are many of the elements of what’s considered “success,” both outside the Church and (depending on who you talk to) within. We chase after the next promotion and we switch jobs as soon as the old one stops satisfying. We seek happiness in the next toy when the old one isn’t nearly as sparkly and bankroll it on a piece of plastic. We’ve buried ourselves under debt in the pursuit of happiness and have nothing to show for it.
But this is not what life is to be for the Christian. We’re not to be pursuing a life of self-exaltation—we are to put our pursuit of these things to death. We are to bury ourselves in Christ. This is the point of Hayley and Michael DiMarco’s new book, Die Young. In this book, the DiMarcos take the pursuit of self head on as they examine the paradoxical world of the Kingdom of God, where death brings life, less means more, weak is strong and slavery to brings freedom...
September 19, 2012
Hayley and Michael DiMarco want believers to understand that being a Christian is more than making a confession and then living life as before, but dying to yourself, to all your lusts, idols, and obsessions. Their shorthand description of this attitude is the title of their latest book, Die Young. “To die young,” they say, “is to live for Christ and nothing else.” (p. 17)* Die Young is written to believers, and is a close-up look at sanctification.
Books on sanctification are prey to two common pitfalls. Either the author can get so caught up in the actions of the Christian walk that they inadvertently add more rules (i.e. if you really love Jesus you’ll quit your job and become a missionary), or they portray the Christian life as the key to better relationships (Jesus as life coach, if you will). The DiMarcos avoid both errors. It’s a tricky balance, and I commend them for managing it.
Books on sanctification are prey to two common pitfalls. Either the author can get so caught up in the actions of the Christian walk that they inadvertently add more rules (i.e. if you really love Jesus you’ll quit your job and become a missionary), or they portray the Christian life as the key to better relationships (Jesus as life coach, if you will). The DiMarcos avoid both errors. It’s a tricky balance, and I commend them for managing it.
October 17, 2013
I have been reading this book over a long period of time because I have found that is is easier to understand if you read it like a devotional. I read a paragraph or section each night and then pray about. I really like it.
February 2, 2012
Review forthcoming...
September 25, 2015
It was a really good reminder of what's important and of how skewed our mindsets can become if we are not careful.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews