Losing Our Life to Save It

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
—Matthew 16:24-26

There is the quote from Jesus that goes “No greater love hath any man than to give up his life for another.” That brings to my mind such scenes as those in WWII movies of young men who fall on live hand grenades to save their buddies. Or a parent who steps between a speeding car and their little child. I wonder, as many of us do, whether I could do such a thing.

But there is another way of giving up our life, and it may actually be more difficult. It comes when we know that we have to change our ways if we are to save our soul. We know that we have to give up life as we know it if we are to save our soul’s life.

It may be the drug life that we know is killing us and all relationships that we hold dear. Or it may be a life of oppressing others, whether that be in business or in our home; we know that how we treat others is wrong, but we would have to give up privilege or income or power to let go. The good news is that we KNOW we are in the wrong. The tough thing is to let that life go.

God promises us a better life if we give up what we know is death in our life. God promises us real life if we are true to Him and thus to ourselves. If we talk with someone and sound out why we feel that we are on the wrong path, we may find ourselves seeing the way to life-giving change.  In any case, we are never alone—God is always there to make change possible. If we really seek to let go of that which is dulling our conscience and our soul, help will be there as we move towards the light.

O God, You are light and goodness. Speak to me of light and goodness and help me move my words, actions and thoughts towards your light. Amen.

Copyright ©2006 William Kolb.