“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25.NASB)
Has God ever asked you to give up something that you enjoyed? Some might say this can never happen. After all, He promises to give us good things.
However, scripture also reminds us that God has already given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness (II Peter 1:3). That includes giving us ears and hearts to perceive His personal word for us, his rhema.
Your personal word may not be the same as someone else’s. In fact, I can just about guarantee it isn’t. Has your life path been exactly the same as theirs? How about your emotional makeup? Your spiritual experiences? So why should your rhema from God be the same?
For example, I know a lot of people who love a certain reality TV show. Personally, I think it’s inane and a complete waste of time. That’s just me. God doesn’t have to tell me anything about it.
But I have had several shows and movies that He has told me not to watch. Same with certain books and music. I loved some of them. Giving them up was kind of tough. But He knew why He wanted me to lay down this aspect of my life rather than trying to save it.
Now, obviously this wasn’t a question of physical death, of surrendering my physical life. This is another instance of the Greek word being mistranslated. Matthew 16:25 uses psychēn, the word for soul; the soul comprises mind, will, and emotions.
God wanted me to lose my “soul life” (or rather, to surrender it) so that He could protect it. Some of these programs contained too much violence for my healing soul to bear. Some had too much sexual innuendo that brought levels of defilement. But they were entertaining and fun . . . I thought.
I didn’t realize the damage that was insidiously being accomplished until they were no longer in my life. Now little alarm bells go off when something is developing into a detriment to my soul. I might cringe, I might even choose to ignore the alarms and disobey Father God, but I know it’s best to listen and follow instructions. Even if it means laying down my soul without knowing exactly why.
Dying to self is definitely a long-term project.
Our intimate relationship with God depends on it.
this is part 2 of a series on dying to self
Part 1| Choosing Life by Choosing Death
Part 2| Save Your Life by Losing It
Part 3| No Resuscitation!
Part 4| A Living Sacrifice Requires Inner Honesty
illustrations courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net