LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Losing to Gain
"Therefore, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).
Through this Scripture text, the Lord gives us the following expression: The greater the loss we suffer for the Lord's sake, the greater the freedom. The more we retain that which belongs to us -that which belongs to our flesh, to our soul- the greater is the bondage.
In the knowledge of Christ Jesus as our life, he teaches us to renounce all that we possess, even our own life. When we receive this Word of renunciation, at first, the burden becomes immense. We are subject to many things, affectively attached to many people, mainly to family and friends we have in the world; however, in that loss consists our total freedom.
To retain, preserve or take care of what is ours, leads us to servitude, but to divest ourselves of them leads us to total freedom. Hallelujah! "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27, 33).
There is no greater loss than death, and that is the meaning of carrying the cross as Jesus teaches. When we deny ourselves, we carry our cross and follow him; we take death upon ourselves, upon our things, upon our affections, upon everything and everyone, and from there we go on to enjoy the freedom that is in Christ Jesus.
Love does not seek its own interests (1 Cor. 13:5), and when Jesus calls us to renounce all that we have, even our own life, he is not seeking his interest, but ours. He is loving us and leading us to true freedom, stripped of all care, anxiety or worry, stripped of all that enslaves us.
The knowledge of Christ our Lord is true freedom: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Know that love and that freedom. The loss of that which is temporal will become the gain of that which is eternal.