So much talk among Christians revolves around “getting” and “gaining.” God gave me this. God gave me that.
So much of our Christian life is focused on the things we’ve received: freedom, hope, peace, a future. Of course these are all things worth being excited about. But the Christian life is also about giving up things. This is the part people are less quick to talk about.
Yet this is the part I think Jesus talked more about. Losing our life…not getting stuff from Him. Being a Christian is not simply a list of tings God has done for us. It is more so about being losers. If you call yourself a follower of Christ than you should also be prepared to call yourself a loser…
You see, the Cross means losing. The Cross is not only, or simply, about gaining a new life in Christ, but rather losing your life to find it.
We all have things we have had to lose in order to follow Christ…
We lose our past–complete with sin–but sometimes that includes friends, family members, memories…
We lose our security, as Christ draws us into unfamiliar territory…
The talkative, assertive person must lose and be quiet and listen.
The quiet, shy person must lose and speak up even when it is difficult.
The wife must lose what the world calls her “right” when she submits to her husband.
The husband loses himself–his own desires–when he yields to the Lord and leads his family.
The motivated, driven person loses when God says “wait…be still.”
The pensive, cautious person loses when God says, “Go now. Act.”
We are all losers…Christ was the biggest loser of all, sacrificing His life for each and every one of us, that we might be losers too.
Yes, the Cross means victory for us and the defeat of our enemy, but it also means loss, no matter how small of seemingly insignificant. God wants us to be losers…and I’ll be the first to raise my hand. I’m a loser. Are you?
What have you had to “lose” in order to gain Christ? What has God had you give up, turn away from, or correct in order to make you more of a loser?
