Matthew 16:25,26 - Whoever wants to save their life will lose it

16:25

This is the paradox of life, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it”. Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ declaration that He was going to die was entirely understandable, it was a normal human reaction. This is all the more the case if something seems to be threatening our own existence, whether this be a threat to our very life, or to our finances or our livelihoods. We want to “save” our life. Jesus is saying that if we do that we will actually lose our life. But if we do lose our lives for Christ’s sake we will find it. Now, we may actually die, may actually lose money or our jobs. This happens daily to Christians across the globe. So far it has been a very rare event in the West (though if we go back in history this was not always the case), but jobs are now starting to be on the line. However, life is more than food and clothes, more than material well being (Luke 12:23), this is eternal life: to know the Father and the Son (John 17:3). If we give up because the cost or the risk of following Jesus seems too great we will actually find that our lives become empty and void. If we remain faithful to Him, even in the face of great cost and risk, then we will find our lives become immensely richer. May God give us the grace to remain faithful to Him in all circumstances.

16:26

In my comments on the previous verse I spoke about our lives becoming empty and void if we deny Christ. We would forfeit our souls. Adam and Eve forfeited their souls when they disobeyed God. They thought they were gaining life when they chose to set their own rules, to live independently of God. But we all know how it ended up, and this plays out again and again in the lives of individuals and societies. In the West we have chosen to abandon so many of God’s ways, especially in the area of sexand relationships. In so doing we have forfeited our souls. Having done that there is nothing we can do or give to regain our souls. It is only in Christ that we find our lives.