Losing Is Gaining

Losing Is Gaining

Losing Is GainingThe world says losing is for losers. The Bible says losing is gaining. Which one do you believe? The world says you need to cumulate stuff, fame, wealth in order to be happy. The Bible says if you lose it all, you will gain everything in Christ. It sure sounds backwards. But it is the way to life everlasting.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world]will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt. 16:24-26, AMP,*)

We are to set aside our selfish interests and follow Jesus. We need to give up our own way and conform to Jesus in everything. It might sound terrifying but it is the only way to life everlasting. Losing is gaining even if it does not look like it at first.

How to do it? How can you embrace ‘losing is gaining’ when you don’t want to? Just like anything else: start with prayer. Ask first for desire to surrender to God. You see, grace is not just pardon but also power. When we ask for God’s help, he will pour out grace upon grace according to our needs. In this case, God will give us desire to surrender and then power to do so.

When we want to live like Frank Sinatra sings “I did it my way”, we end up losing all that matters in the long run. When we want to live God’s way and surrender our will to God, we gain more than we are capable to imagine. And we don’t even need to wait for heaven to experience blessings. We don’t gain wealth, fame or success but we gain something better: peace, joy, hope and life upon life.

 

Gracious God,
Thank you that you invite losers into your kingdom.
Thank you that your wisdom is much more than earthly wisdom.
Thank you that losing is gaining.
I want to be truly yours, Lord.
I surrender my way and my will to you.
May your will happen in me, through me and for me.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Do you agree that losing is gaining? Why/why not?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you embrace Jesus as your leader!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses to Biblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.].

Image courtesy of Mari-Anna Stålnacke. Linking up today withDance with Jesus, Faith-filled Fridays, Five Minute Friday.

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