Losing Your Self

"What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?" Mark 8:36 NIV

"What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?" Mark 8:36 The Message

Do you ever feel like you spend much of your time chasing something you can never quite seem to reach? I do. Sometimes it's to get all my work done...sometimes it's to be a really good mother...other times it would be nice to have a great wardrobe like my co-worker, or to be as slim and physically fit as a friend of mine. Or consider the never ending money game...why is it that the more you make, the more seems to get spent?

I can put a lot of effort into getting "more" of whatever it is I want. Relationships, money, material things...but part of being human seems to be that no matter how much "more" I have, I will never be satisfied. I might be a little happier in the moment, but it won't be a lasting happiness. And the tricky part is, I often have to "sell my soul" to get those things I want. It may be working long hours, investing all my energy into work, or hiding who I really am in a relationship, in the hopes of making it work. Whatever I give away, it often has a hidden, but very high price.

The answer to having everything you want (really for most of us this is peace, joy and love) and not losing yourself in the process: a relationship with Jesus. There is a song that goes: lose youself in Me, and you will find yourself, lose yourself in Me, and you will find new life...

Jesus, help me to let go of my earthly wants and needs; I do not want to have to lose my soul to obtain them. Holy Spirit, help me to understand that I will find myself, and new life, in relationship with You. Amen.

Life Steps: What are you chasing that never seems to satisfy?

More Healing Words of God: 1John 2:15