John 12:25-26

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:25-26 NIV

This is one of these very challenging verses. When does Jesus really mean when He says we should ‘hate our life’? It’s reminiscent of the rebellious teenager slamming the door shut and saying ‘I hate my life’ but I don’t think that’s what Jesus had in mind!! And besides Jesus want’s us to enjoy life. He said in John 10:10 ‘I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.’

The best way I can explain this is to give you an example. There was a time in my dad’s life when he felt God calling him into full time ministry with Youth for Christ. At the time dad was working for an insurance company. When Jeff announced his intention to leave, they came back to him a short time later with an offer to become marketing manager for all of New Zealand, a major promotion for my dad. When he turned it down, his boss said ‘this other job must really be paying you well’, and dad replied ‘no actually you have to raise your own finances’. His boss obviously thought he was crazy. That’s called ‘hating your life’ ie despising what the world has to offer you when God has something better. I can also tell you from first hand experience that during the time my dad was in full time ministry we never went without, in fact God blessed us as a family with many blessings. Following Jesus will take you to some interesting places and into some situations that make no sense from the world’s perspective but we have something much greater to live for than just acquiring wealth and possessions.

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