For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25
While shopping at a popular cosmetics store, I glance at their shopping bag. Written on it are the words, "Go ahead, lose yourself ". I pause, silently chuckling at the words, while wondering why they think I need to lose myself. Obviously, this was not a message for me. I, frankly, am on a path of self-discovery. Whatever happened to "find yourself"? Do we really need to escape from ourselves so badly that even shopping bags now carry messages designed to influence us?
My initial reaction was to ask myself if I needed to lose myself or to find myself. The pressures of this life do cause us to want to lose ourselves, to escape from stress and brokenness. But perhaps the better way is to find ourselves, to discover our gifts and talents, to be all we can and were designed to be. This involves stepping into the brokenness rather than running from it. When we can honestly look at ourselves, with all our faults and frailties, with our goodness and gifts, then perhaps we can embrace ourselves, in the good, in the bad, and even in the ugliness. Only in stark candor can we allow God to change what needs to be changed, to heal what needs to be healed, in order for us to be the best version of ourselves.
Yet there is more to this losing ourselves than is found penned on a shopping bag. In today’s key verse, Jesus speaks with His disciples of His upcoming death on a cross. He says when we live our lives seeking God’s will, we gain eternal life. When we follow Christ’s example, we lose our own identity in the Savior. In the process, we take on the character and attributes of Jesus. We find that He gives us a new identity, a new perspective, a new life, none of which can be taken from us.
Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries martyred in 1956 in Ecuador, profoundly stated: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” When we give of ourselves for Jesus, rather than holding on to what this world has to offer, we find that we have gained an eternity with God which cannot be taken away from us. As He shapes us into who He wants us to be, we discover gifts and talents we didn’t know we had which when exercised for His kingdom, bring joy to us and glory to God.
Rather than trying to lose myself in what the world has to offer, I lose myself in Jesus where I find my true self. When I discover who I am in Christ, I can be who I was created to be. I can celebrate my unique identity found only in Jesus and find healing for the brokenness. What about you? Are you busy trying to lose yourself to what the world offers? Or are you losing yourself to the One who gave His life for you? Discover and embrace who you are and who you were created to be. Lose your grip on the things of this world and gain what you can never lose.
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your life that first Easter so that I might gain a relationship with You. Help me lose myself in You as I live out my new identity in You now and for all eternity. Amen.
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Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of a hillside near Lake Cachuma, California.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
While shopping at a popular cosmetics store, I glance at their shopping bag. Written on it are the words, "Go ahead, lose yourself ". I pause, silently chuckling at the words, while wondering why they think I need to lose myself. Obviously, this was not a message for me. I, frankly, am on a path of self-discovery. Whatever happened to "find yourself"? Do we really need to escape from ourselves so badly that even shopping bags now carry messages designed to influence us?
My initial reaction was to ask myself if I needed to lose myself or to find myself. The pressures of this life do cause us to want to lose ourselves, to escape from stress and brokenness. But perhaps the better way is to find ourselves, to discover our gifts and talents, to be all we can and were designed to be. This involves stepping into the brokenness rather than running from it. When we can honestly look at ourselves, with all our faults and frailties, with our goodness and gifts, then perhaps we can embrace ourselves, in the good, in the bad, and even in the ugliness. Only in stark candor can we allow God to change what needs to be changed, to heal what needs to be healed, in order for us to be the best version of ourselves.
Yet there is more to this losing ourselves than is found penned on a shopping bag. In today’s key verse, Jesus speaks with His disciples of His upcoming death on a cross. He says when we live our lives seeking God’s will, we gain eternal life. When we follow Christ’s example, we lose our own identity in the Savior. In the process, we take on the character and attributes of Jesus. We find that He gives us a new identity, a new perspective, a new life, none of which can be taken from us.
Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries martyred in 1956 in Ecuador, profoundly stated: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” When we give of ourselves for Jesus, rather than holding on to what this world has to offer, we find that we have gained an eternity with God which cannot be taken away from us. As He shapes us into who He wants us to be, we discover gifts and talents we didn’t know we had which when exercised for His kingdom, bring joy to us and glory to God.
Rather than trying to lose myself in what the world has to offer, I lose myself in Jesus where I find my true self. When I discover who I am in Christ, I can be who I was created to be. I can celebrate my unique identity found only in Jesus and find healing for the brokenness. What about you? Are you busy trying to lose yourself to what the world offers? Or are you losing yourself to the One who gave His life for you? Discover and embrace who you are and who you were created to be. Lose your grip on the things of this world and gain what you can never lose.
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your life that first Easter so that I might gain a relationship with You. Help me lose myself in You as I live out my new identity in You now and for all eternity. Amen.
Want to subscribe to future posts? Click here.
Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of a hillside near Lake Cachuma, California.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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