Losing Myself

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.'” Matthew 16:24-25

In a world where everyone is trying to find themselves, believers are to be in hot pursuit of losing themselves. When we receive Christ, we receive His life working in and through us. The goal is that He would increase and we would decrease.

In fact, we’re much like salmon who swim upstream – against the flow – away from the other fish – striving for the place that will ultimately be the death of them. That’s us – living contrary to the world, striving to die so that we might truly live.

Striving to die when our flesh cries out to live. Like Paul described in Romans 7, we’re constantly swimming against the current of our culture and of our own depraved desires to let the life of Christ prevail.

Look at Galatians 2:20 in the Amplified: “I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

It may not make sense, but our lives are often an oxymoron.

We are saved to die, yet we are saved to live
We are to turn the other cheek, yet we are more than conquerors
We forsake all so we can obtain all
When we give, we gain
When we lose ourselves for His sake, we find ourselves

Only Jesus can make sense out of what makes no sense at all. He is forever righteous, forever holy, forever pure, forever lovely, forever perfect, forever faithful, forever good, forever God!

And because of Who He is, I willingly lose myself for Him.

How about you? Have you lost yourself for Him? Have you found yourself in Him? Do you struggle with letting go of your idea of what’s best for you and relinquishing your will…your plans for his?

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2 Comments

  1. Great post, Stephanie! I finally learned to go through life with open hands, to release my clenched fists and just take the Lord's hand for guidance. Where we go and what we do is then the Lord's best for me and a great surprise! Blessings to you!

  2. I love what Lynn said above…yes, a surrendered hand open to His will! This has been a year (or two) of God stripping me, particularly so I can be a better mom and wife. It has been painstakingly difficult, but the rewards are leaving His mark and for that I am grateful.

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