To Live, You've Got to Lose

To Live, You've Got to Lose...


Who are you living for?  Are you struggling to get by, chasing after your dreams, or are you allowing God to take the lead?


To live out the life that God has planned and chosen for you, you've got to lose some of the dreams, ideals, objects, activities, and things that the world has taught us to cling to.  We have been taught that if we want something bad enough, then we should find a means to get it; maybe it is time we yearn for God rather than objects or our own plans.  I realize that this is easier said than done; it is hard to give up any of the things that bring us happiness, and hope with blind faith that the God who loves us will replace it with something so much greater.  


In the grand scheme of things, giving up some of these earthly pleasures in exchange for our souls and eternal life is an extremely minimal price to pay.  Christ willingly paid the price for our sins, even though He had no sins of His own to pay for; He lost His life, in order for us to live ours.  As it is written in today's verse, what would gaining the whole world but losing our souls do to benefit us?  Our time here is only temporary; we need to let go of our need for instant gratification, and realize that what God has in store for us will far outweigh anything we could find here on earth.  Rejoice that we don't have to cling to the things of this earth, rejoice that we have a faith and hope in a God that has promised us so much more!


Daily Verse:


And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? ~ Mark 8:36


Think of your life as a house; you have invited Christ into your home, he lives there, sleeps there, eats there. He is a part of you, but have you truly given Him the grand tour of your heart, of His home?  We may have given Him access to a majority of the rooms in this home, but has He been in every corner, has He been allowed in the cellar or the attic?  How many closets full of earthly desires do we keep locked away that Christ isn't allowed into?  Like I said before, Christ longs to renovate our hearts, but the task is not quite as easy when we haven't given him the floor plans.  We need give over the keys to these locked away parts of our heart, we need to lose some of the earthly things we hold so close in order to gain full access to the life that He has planned for us; we are the only ones stopping us from that life. Let go, and let God; give Him the keys, give Him the floor plans, give Him full access, and life will be more than you ever thought possible.




Examine your lives; invite God into every nook and cranny, every closet and corner.  He already knows everything there is to know so there is no sense in hiding.  Be willing to be emptied of yourself so that you can be filled with Him!  Lose this life in order to gain the crown of life, live out the life that God has planned for you!


Here is a link to a song by tobyMac entitled "Lose My Soul" that speaks of these truths...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coHKdhAZ9hU