What Do You Value Most?

“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” (John 12:25)

A paradoxical statement is a statement that seems to contradict itself. For example:

  • “How am I supposed to get job experience if I can’t get a job because I have no experience?”
  • “A male barber shaves all and only those men who do not shave themselves. Does he shave himself?”
  • “A Cretan says, ‘All Cretans are liars.”
  • “This sentence is false.”

At first glance, the statement of Jesus doesn’t make sense, much like these other paradoxical statements. In fact, it seems to contradict itself. Is Jesus really saying that if you love your life and want to keep it, then it would be better if you lose your life? How can you even gain from loss? What does Jesus really mean?

The idea of hating life is not acceptable in our world today. By nature, mankind is narcissistic and loves life more than anything else. We spend a lot of money and time caring for and trying to enjoy life. Who wants to hate their life to the point of death? Is Jesus calling man to become a martyr or to waste his life? No! But He is calling His followers to view their soul with an eternal value not a temporal existence. The person who loves this human life in this evil world more than an eternal life in God’s kingdom will lose any chance of their soul entering into eternal life. But the one who rejects this temporal life in this evil world will guard his soul into the eternal. This means that we must be willing to lose everything on this planet for the sake of guarding our spiritual future. Yes, it is God who ultimately keeps us in His hand.

Are you in His hand? Consider the following passage from Jude: “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.(Jude 21)

What life are you valuing? This earthly life in an evil world or eternal life in God’s kingdom? As a Christ Follower are you guarding your soul? You must decide.

In His Service,
Pastor Cary Wacker


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