Lose Your Life

In Sunday School today, my teacher brought up John 12:25. While similar versions of this scripture can be found throughout the standard works, we do not often reference this particular occurrence. Here it reads:

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

Here I will 1) explain what this verse means to me, 2) explain the principle in this passage, and 3) apply it to our own lives.

I have to admit, that when I first heard this verse it made me uncomfortable. The idea that we must hate our lives in order to keep them in eternal life is a difficult concept, and I immediately began to seek alternate meaning. Using tools I learned from Brother Griffin, I looked up this verse in the Strong's Concordance to see what the original greek may have been. While it said that most uses for the word, "miseo" were connected to hatred, the actual definition also includes this phrase: "by extension, to love less."This definition rang true to me, and so in my mind this verse actually means, "he that loveth his life less in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." What is the difference, you may ask? To me, the difference is where you place your love. If you love your eternal life more than your worldly life, you will be able to inherit your eternal life.

The principle then, is that you must prioritize those things that will lead to eternal life over things that will seemingly better your current, worldly life.

How do we do so? First of all, it is important to recognize where the temptation exists to prioritize worldly things. What is difficult for me to give up is different from what is difficult for you to give up, and so you first must identify where your weaknesses lie. Remember to pray for guidance for what steps you need to take in your life, not only according to what will create a better future, but especially for what will allow you to grow closer to God.