but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Matthew 16:25
Did he mean that to serve him would mean giving up things that you may otherwise like to do, such as forniication, and pagan rituals?
2007-09-28 12:16:01 · 17 answers · asked by Chi Guy 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It is more than that.
God proposes to change who you are. To change your mind and your very being. He proposes to create in you a new heart.
Your purpose in life is to seek God and to allow God to reveal Himself to you; to come to know your Creator, to allow Him to change you, and to find your joy in Him.
2007-09-28 23:52:17 · answer #1 · answered by Matthew T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello! First, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. He means if you live for yourself, life will pass you over for Jesus is the way, truth and life. For Example My pastor lives in a million dollar complex. Meaning that everyone in there makes, allot more money than him. And for the record my pastor a singer and a song writer. that is were his money comes from. Furthermore, His next door neighbor killed himself, He drove a Bentley, nice house and great job. he had everything he wanted. Why did he jump on to Interstate 4? Money could not save his life. The truth is he had everything I wanted and I have nothing close to what he had and yet I am still alive. I got JESUS. I found life is worth living with him and can't live without him.
2007-09-28 12:54:49 · answer #2 · answered by boobie19792000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been reading the Bible lately, and I think I see why there are so many Christian religions. The Bible isn't to be interpreted literally; it is to be interpreted spiritually, to enlighten us. As for me, I think Christ meant this statement as an adage against selfishness.
For the most part, people value their own lives the most. Of course you'd find a way to save your own skin when danger arrives, never mind other people are dying. But Christ did differently. He showed us the greatest love of all, and that is through His death on the cross to save us from our sins. It is difficult, but it is this example which we should follow: a show of selflessness unlike any other, by giving up your most prized possession, your life, for the sake of others.
To God be the glory!
2007-09-28 12:23:09 · answer #3 · answered by ~*G-Girl*~ 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My opinion...
It's the whole "upside down" world coming into play. -What we think of as really important becomes really trivial when we begin to see things more as God does. So, that big house, fancy car, padded bank account...become increasingly less important to us as we see the things that really matter. So maybe we "loose"that padded bank account investing in the small businesses of people in a third world country and help them better nourish their family.
It's when we start realizing and acting on what really matters that we "save" our lives. In the process we might "loose" what we formally thought our lives were about.
On the flipside. If all we are about is trying to save ourselves, concerning our energy towards a cushier existence for ourselves we will really be loosing the life God intended for us to live...and the contentment that comes with it.
2007-09-28 12:30:04 · answer #4 · answered by The Sponge 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I take it that it means if more energy is spent on faith for personal well being and not on salvation then you will lose your place in Heaven. But if you give your life over to God and not worry about the physical body then you will gain life eternal.
2007-09-28 12:21:52 · answer #5 · answered by Ahmad H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.”
Here is an illustration that will tie into the verse at hand. The scripture in Acts 15:29, 30 mentions how true Christians were commanded to abstain from blood. This means avoiding idolatry and sexual immorality. This is a similar comment that you made when you first posed this question.
Does the command to abstain from blood include blood transfusions? Yes. To illustrate: Suppose a doctor were to tell you to abstain from alcoholic beverages. Would that simply mean that you should not drink alcohol but that you could have it injected into your veins? Of course not! Likewise, abstaining from blood means not taking it into our bodies at all. So the command to abstain from blood means that we would not allow anyone to transfuse blood into our veins.
What if a Christian is badly injured or is in need of major surgery? Suppose doctors say that he must have a blood transfusion or he will die. Of course, the Christian would not want to die. In an effort to preserve God’s precious gift of life, he would accept other kinds of treatment that do not involve the misuse of blood. Hence, he would seek such medical attention if that is available and would accept a variety of alternatives to blood. Here is the connection with Matthew 16:25.
Would a Christian break God’s law just to stay alive a little longer in this system of things? Jesus said: “Whoever wants to save his soul [or, life] will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
Certainly, we do not want to die. However, if we tried to save our present life by breaking God’s law, we would be in danger of losing everlasting life. We are wise, then, to put our trust in the rightness of God’s law, with full confidence that if we die from any cause, our Life-Giver will remember us in the resurrection and restore to us the precious gift of life. (John 5:28, 29; Hebrews 11:6)
Although we love life, we will not try to save our present life by breaking God’s law and thus jeopardize our prospect of everlasting life! (Matthew 16:25)
Rather than trying to save our lives by turning to unclean practices of spiritism, we can look to the power of the Almighty God and trust that he will bring us back from death by means of a resurrection to life in his healthful new order.
Source(s):
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
Unseen Spirits – Do They Help Us? Or Do They Harm Us? (1978)
Published by Jehovah’s Witnesses
Page 57, Paragraph 106
2007-09-29 18:12:13 · answer #6 · answered by the_answer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you have answered your own question. If we cling to the things of this life we are not fit for the kingdom of God. We have to make choices based on the eternal value of things. It is not the temporal things that have worth but the things eternal. If you are so attached to the things of this world that you lose sight of the things of God you have lost!
2007-09-28 12:23:18 · answer #7 · answered by cowboy_christian_fellowship 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On a micro level, it means that if you don’t care for others but yourself (i.e., "save his life"), you’ll lose the goodness of life, because what goes around comes around.
On a macro level, it means that if you try to live this life relying on your own strength (i.e., "save his life") instead of leaning on Jesus Christ, you will forfeit the abundance of blessings that God has for you. Instead of having favor with God and men, you’ll be left on your own to scramble in the rat race because that is what you chose.
On an eternal and the most important level, if you live your life independently of Jesus Christ the Savior (i.e., "save his own life") unto physical death, you will lose your life to hell.
God created man because He wanted to have a loving relationship with him. But man sinned and cannot stand before a holy God until his sins are accounted for (i.e., saved by the substitutionary death of Jesus). Man cannot save himself because he’s not the owner of the universe, whether physical or spiritual, & its laws. But if one surrenders his life to Jesus, He the Savior will save him.
2007-09-28 14:02:23 · answer #8 · answered by Jedidiah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To me it means that to Follow Jesus meant to follow his word and the love of all lives comes before yours.
2007-09-28 12:24:21 · answer #9 · answered by ♥ Mel 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hard to say what a dead guy meant, or read between the lines
but that's why there is 42,300 variant teachings and versions of Xianity that really mirror Paul and not Jesus
to me, your question sounds like if you chose not to be a martyr and not die for the cause of Martyrdom and get your virgins and higher status in heaven
know what to live for before believing what to die for
2007-09-28 12:20:48 · answer #10 · answered by voice_of_reason 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋