losing to gain

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:39

Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.

But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.

I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.

As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.