I seek not mine own will,
but the will of the Father... 

     A mule is the offspring of a female horse and a male donkey. Unlike a horse, a mule has a mind of its own and refuses to obey any command of its master’s which it deems to be potentially harmful to self. Because of a mule’s strong sense of self-preservation, they do not make good war animals which are expected to charge headlong into battle. Thus their love of self renders them useless in many ways.
     Jesus said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). The cross is more than just a piece of jewelry to be "taken up" and worn as a decoration around one’s neck. The cross is a place of death.
     Just as Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, we also must go to the cross and put our mulish self-will to death by saying, "Father... not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).