What defines you as a person? Where do you find satisfaction or happiness? I heard a sermon just over a year ago that really struck me and man, it just marinated in my brain for months! Today, I just want to share some revelations, related to this topic, from a passage in Matthew.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to 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? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” (Matthew 16:24-26)
It seems we humans, in our search for success, happiness and satisfaction, tend to believe (and our culture supports the idea) those things come from your career, fame, from your spouse, from your children, from health. It is always outward things supposedly defining or satisfying you.
Looking at these external factors, suppose you are in a toxic marriage, does it somehow make you a bad person? If you have an unprofitable business, are you a failure? Likewise, if you are in a harmonious relationship or have a profitable enterprise, you now define yourself through those visible successes.
And, you cling to it all so tightly… because you’re terrified of losing it! You want to protect your income, your relationships, your career, your clothes, your favorite things. You would do anything to keep it all. And the more attachments you have, the more influence others have on you.
This passage tells you to pay attention to what you attach yourself to. You should feel protective over what you love. But, you say you love your favorite restaurant and then say you love your kids or God. Do you really love that food the same way you love your kids?
Instead, try choosing more carefully what you truly hold dear and for the other things, adopt a lighter grip. This keeps your priorities straight! If you try to hold and protect all of your attachments, you will lose yourself. These attachments begin to act as yoke, tying you down. If you don’t know what a yoke is, it’s a wooden bar farmers attach to two oxen as they plow a field. One cannot move without the other.
Do you want that to be you? Of course not! It might be high time to untie yourself from a lot of the “things” in your life. They are not your priority! I hope this message impacted you the way it has completely convicted me lately. Leave me your comments below and don’t forget to Like and Share this message with your friends.
In great faith,
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