10-24-21 Losing is Gaining
Quote: “If you lost them, but found yourself, you win.”
There is a group of crazy divas that get up early in the mornings and listen to a weird lady with really crazy hair. Her husband wakes her up around 6am and faithfully gives her a cup of coffee so that she can properly function with her family and then go “Live at 7:05” and share nuggets from a verse of the Bible. Okay, yes that weird lady is me but I would just like to add that in my defense, I go 100mph during the day and then crash hard when I sleep at night, so waking me up and actually getting me out of bed is quite an ugly process!
One year during our live show, we were studying the book of Philippians, one of the 13 books that Paul the missionary wrote. He wrote many letters to churches to encourage them. We came to a verse that really got me thinking. I had to look it up in many different translations, use Google to get more information, and pull out a study Bible to dig deeper. I just couldn’t wrap my head around what Paul meant. By the time I talked about it in our live morning show, I had such a better understanding of it.
And then I saw this quote that inspired this blog and I thought – yes! It affirmed the verse we had studied. It’s quite a simple verse with such deep meaning. Philippians 1:21 says, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
I don’t like talking about death just as much as the next person. When I think of dying, I certainly don’t think of gaining, that’s for sure. But when you really examine this verse deeper, you realize that sometimes, bringing things to an end can be a good thing.
Sometimes losing is actually winning.
We might have to lose that weight and make healthier life choices to be able to live a longer life. Over time, we may outgrow lifelong activities and friends because we’ve changed too much. We might have to put our wish dreams of what we thought out life was going to be like so that we can instead enjoy what it is right in front of us.
When we live with God in the forefront of our minds, we are submitting our whole selves to the one who created us – our time, talents, and treasures. That means our spending habits and finances. Our wants and desires. The way we wish people would act or treat us. That’s hard!
But when we put God first in our lives instead of ourselves, Paul says we will start really living and gaining! We will gain deep insight, knowledge, and wisdom of why we are here on this earth. We will gain a kingdom perspective. And that helps us live our lives differently.
If you’ve outgrown your old life, shed that skin and step into your new shoes. New wineskins! When you do this, God says you are a winner!
