Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(Mark 8:34 NIV)by Starric on TwosThen he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(Mark 8:34 NIV)The Greek word for deny here, is aparneomai, and it means to “forget one’s self and lose sight of one’s interest.” These two verses are summed up in this way: deny self and die to self.