For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Why do you spend time doing the things you spend time doing? What is the motivation that drives you every day? If we are honest with ourselves, many of us do what we do for ourselves. We don’t do things to put ourselves in danger, but to protect our lives and make them matter. This protective nature, this desire for significance, is built into us. And it’s a good desire, but we often go about fulfilling it in all the wrong ways. Our desire to save our life leads us to depend on ourselves, achieve more, and spend our days proving our significance.
The way to save our life is not intuitive nor does it feel natural to us. Even as we read this passage, we struggle to make sense of it. But think of it in these terms: What if the One who designed you knew the way He designed you to live? What if the One who formed your heart could give you more insight than the inclinations within your heart? What if He knew better than you did? When we remember who Jesus is—the living embodiment of God, the creator of all, the One in whose image we were made—the puzzle starts to come together.
Of course, we can only find purpose in God because we were designed to be like Him. Of course, we should lay down our lives for Him because He is the way, the truth, and the life. We all want to save our lives and find purpose, but how will we go about it? Will we stay determined to save our lives on our own strength, or will we die to ourselves and live for the One who can truly give us life?
- In what ways are you trying to save your life right now or bring significance to it?
- What would change if you were to die to yourself and take up the life of Christ?
- Pray and thank God for giving a way to life even as it different than what feels natural to us.
