Winners and Losers
Winners and Losers
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. (Matt. 16:25)
What’s to Lose?
It isn’t uncommon for a dad to “throw” a game when he’s competing against his young son. In competitive sports, however, we expect it to be different. It’s a rare exception when an athlete doesn’t fight to win every time.
But in real life losing ourselves for the sake of Christ has eternal benefits. When we believe in Jesus for salvation, we rely on Him to help us lose our fear, selfishness, bitterness, confusion, materialism, and many other negative traits that have controlled our lives. The most important thing we lose is hell.
What’s to Be Gained?
But Christianity is not only defined by what we lose. In Romans 5:1–11, Paul identifies several things we gain when we give our life to Jesus: peace with God, access to His grace, the hope of His glory, a purpose for our pain, and reconciliation with our Creator and Savior.
Purpose in pain? Yes, Paul elaborates on this one, saying that “affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3–4). That’s quite a list of things to pile up in our favor by losing our lives. But we gain one more than that puts all others in the shade—we gain heaven! Looks like losing everything for Christ should really go in the “win” column.
Bottom Line
When you lose your life for Jesus, you experience the ultimate win—eternal life with Him, now and forever.