Gaining Through Losing

Gaining Through Losing

If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. –Matthew 16:25

I think we are all a little superstitious when it comes to suffering. We would rather not get too close to someone who has suffered or is suffering lest it rub off on us. Likewise, we are a little suspicious of God. We have a deep-seated suspicion that God wants to hurt us or deprive us. We’re afraid to trust God with all we are and all we call our own, fearing he will take it away just to make us prove it. Perhaps our suspicions stem from our belief that the gains Jesus offers cannot be worth our losses.

My friend, God does not want to take away all that you hold dear; he simply wants to become your most prized possession. He wants you to see that he is more precious and more satisfying than anything or anyone else, and he wants to give himself to you. To follow Jesus is to prize him above all else. And the measure of your prizing is in your losing. Prizing Jesus makes everything else in this life negotiable. This is how it was for Paul, who wrote, “I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8). Paul had come to see that the things he had held on to his whole life were actually depriving him of what he really wanted. So he moved what he had seen as assets into the liability column in his life. He reordered his entire life in order to get what he valued most. He wasn’t content with just enough of Jesus to save him from the fires of eternal damnation. He wanted Christ in his fullness to save him from the futility of comfort fixation. And he didn’t feel sorry for what he had left behind. No regrets over what he’d lost, only rejoicing over what he had gained: Christ.

When we truly recognize how much Christ is worth, our superstitions dissolve into sweet sacrifices. Our suspicions are replaced by surrender. And in the process, we discover the gain found in abandoning ourselves to God, even in—perhaps especially in—the sufferings of this life.

My prized Possession, I see that losing what I love in this life does not mean losing out. I see that you are turning my temporary losses into eternal gains, and I am glad.

DIGGING DEEPER