The other day, I read a passage of Scripture that held such a juxtaposition, I was totally intrigued and couldn’t seem to move past it until I pondered it for a few days.
That passage is Matthew 16:24-26:
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?’”
The juxtaposition was the two distinct ideas of what it means to lose your life. Lose your life one way and have it saved. Lose your life another way and have it forfeited.
How do we know if we are losing it in the right way?
That is the thought that kept me hooked. How can I lose my life in the way that leads me to be saved? What does that mean? What would it look like?
I looked up the word “lose” in the ancient Greek and found that it is actually about destroying the connection that one thing has to another. Kind of like losing a call on your phone. It really isn’t lost. The connection was destroyed.
I then looked up the word “life” and found the Greek word “psyche.” After reading through its definition I realized that it correlates in a really profound way with how the soul is understood in ancient Hebrew.
You see, in Hebrew, there are three words for soul. Each word correlates to a different aspect of our soul; a different layer.
“Nephesh” is our life force. It is the part that is connected to our life on earth. It is being physically alive.
“Ruach” is our personality, our will, our thoughts and feelings. It is our heart. It is what makes us each unique and special.
“Neshama” is the part that was made in the image of God. It is the part that we think about when we consider dying and going to Heaven. It is the part that communicates with the Holy Spirit. It is the aspect of our soul that longs for the immaterial, the spiritual, and eternity.
Going back to the Greek word, “psyche,” it encompasses both Ruach and Neshama. It is the seat of our feelings and the essence that differs from the body, continuing after death. It is our heart and soul.
So, when Jesus is talking about losing your life, he is saying that you need to destroy the connection that your heart and soul has to…
That’s the next question. Destroy the connection to what?
He says that we need to lose our life for his sake. I believe that means we have to destroy our connection to anything that isn’t him. Destroy the connection your heart and soul has to anything else for his sake. That means, destroy the connection to anything that is not of God; to anything ungodly; to anything worldly.
Why?
So you can find it.
Jesus said that if you lose your life for his sake, then you will find it. You will actually find your true heart and soul when you disconnect from the world.
You see, we are only made whole in our connection to Christ. It is the only way to find your true self. But, you have to disconnect from the world before you can fully connect to Jesus. He wants all of you. There is no middle ground. He won’t share.
Just check out these two verses:
James 4:4, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world, makes himself an enemy of God.”
1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
This is talking about being in the world, but not of the world. These apostles are telling you to maintain a separation from the world in order to be fully connected to Jesus. The alternative is to remain connected to the world, but an enemy of God. What good is that? What good comes from that?
I think that is why the next thing Jesus says is, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
Stay connected to the world, and you get to gain the world and all it has to offer. You get to have the world, but not God. The word translated to “soul” in this verse is still the Greek word “psyche.” So, you end up forfeiting your heart and soul to the world.
The word “forfeit” means to sustain damage or injury; to suffer loss. Remember that we are only made whole, made right in Christ. We only find our true self in connection with Jesus.
By rejecting that connection, instead choosing to remain connected to the world, you damage and injure yourself because you don’t get to be made whole. Instead, you continue to be fractured and broken. You don’t get to find your true self. Instead, you remain a false self.
So, there you have it. The juxtaposition turns out to be a choice. You can gain the world and lose your soul or you can lose the world and save your soul.
You really can lose your life in the right way, in the way that leads it to be saved. You just have to lose it in Christ. You have to destroy the connection you have to this world and connect with Jesus instead.
What it all boils down to is this: A lost life is a found life.
But only if you do it all for Jesus’ sake and no one and nothing else’s.