John 12:25 - Whoever loves his life shall lose it, and whoever hates his life shall save it.
Do I really love my Lord and Savior more than myself, or my own life? Does my life reflect my love for Jesus in my choices, actions, daily activities, and the way I speak? Here is a bigger one - when I choose what to do with my spare time, what do I do? Do I shop for myself or give to the needy? Do I plan a vacation to travel our do I donate my time to the Lord's work? What television shows do I watch? What movies? Are they a good spiritual influence? How do I speak around my little girl? Do I truly live for the Lord, or do I simply enjoy the idea of it?
These are questions that we need to ask ourselves honestly. Not to answer to someone else lest we find ourselves trying to justify what we do out of a fear of being looked down upon. We need to answer it to ourselves, and to the Lord.
Many think, or at least live, as if being Christian simply means being a nice person and saying that you believe in Jesus. But what the scriptures teach seems to be much different. Lets look at a few.
Matthew 10: 37-39: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it."
Do we love Jesus more than not only ourselves, but our parents? Our children? This is not an easy saying.
Again, lets look to our lives. Do we love the world and the things in it?
James 4:4 - "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
This really helps to put things into perspective as far as whether or not we are on the right track with our walk with Jesus. Where are our hearts? Do we truly listen to Paul in Colossians 3:2 when he says "Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth." Have we "presented [our] bodies a living sacrifice... [and to] not be conformed to this world but the transformed by the renewing of [our] mind..." (Rom. 12:1-2)
This is not a hobby, this is a way of life. This is a purpose, a mission, to be "a new creature", and an "ambassador for Christ". (2 Cor. 5:17, 20) This is why Paul says "I keep my body under subjection, lest I myself become a castaway". (1 Cor. 9:27). If Paul was worried that he could become a castaway, how much more should we be concerned ourselves? We should probably make our walk with Jesus the only priority, as he did. "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but THIS ONE THING I DO, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14).
If we love our lives, we shall lose them. Eventually we will reach a point in which God will force us to leave our worldly cares behind, and whatever worldly affections we have will be ripped away from us whether we like it our not. However, if we "hate" our lives (or "love our lives less"), if we hate the ways of the world, and look to our Lord instead to live in His ways, then we shall be able to continue in that for all the days of eternity.
