Save to lose and lose to save?

THIS is indeed a most intriguing and mind-blowing teaching of Christ. “Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose it, shall preserve it,” he once told a crowd. (Lk 17,33) 

 We really need to pause and try to figure out how we can reconcile these words with even the most basic common sense we have, since at first glance they definitely involve contradictory ideas. 

 Indeed, this is where we have to go beyond our common sense and our reasoning, and try to penetrate the spiritual and supernatural message these words are trying to teach us. Christ, the very “way, truth and life” for us, the very source of all that is good, true and beautiful, just cannot tell us things that may sound to us as nonsense. 

 First, we have to consider the context in which these words were spoken. He prefaced this teaching by warning the crowd about the danger of worldly entrapment and self-indulgence which are actually a clear and present danger to us. 

 “As it came to pass in the days of Noe,” he said, “so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat and drink, they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Lk 17,26-27) 

 We have to be wary of this danger of worldly entrapment and self-indulgence that are clearly becoming widespread, especially because these days, the good and evil things of this world are so mixed up that we would most likely be left confused and easily taken by sweet poisons that today’s new things readily offer. 

 What Christ meant by losing in order to save our life is for us to empty ourselves of our own selves in order to be properly filled up with the very life and nature of God through Christ in the Spirit. We need to lose ourselves to win what is truly necessary for us. We cannot deny that we are notorious for sticking to our own will and ways when it is in God’s will and ways that we would have our real joy, fulfillment and life eternal. 

 Everyday, we have to make the exercise of conforming our will to God’s will by making a bold plan of how to go about following God’s will of personal sanctification and apostolate. In pursuit of these dual purpose of our life, we should try to give our all. We cannot afford to be complacent and lukewarm. We should feel driven and pro-active. 

 When we notice that we are more dominated and guided by our moods, our emotional and bodily condition which often are erratic and inconsistent, or when we notice we feel lazy and empty, we should immediately react. The ideal condition for us is to burn with zeal to follow God’s will. Absent that zeal, we would be giving a foothold to our weaknesses and temptations. 

 We have to develop an abiding and burning desire to fulfill the real purpose of our life. We should be clear about this ultimate purpose of ours so we can have the proper sense of direction and focus in our life, and the corresponding urge to fulfill it. 

 In this regard, the first thing to do is to look at the example of Christ. In several occasions, Christ would say that what he was doing was in fulfillment of what the prophets of old, the advance proclaimers of God’s will for Christ and for all of us, said. This is how we can truly save our lives.