1/2/2026

Day 2:

Losing Your Life to Find It

Matthew 16:24-26

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Jesus makes a startling claim: "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This isn't metaphorical spiritualizing—it's the core paradox of the kingdom. The world says grasp, achieve, control, and protect yourself. Jesus says release, surrender, die to self, and discover true life.

Peter had just confessed Jesus as Messiah, then immediately rebuked Jesus for predicting His death. Peter wanted a conquering Messiah without a cross. We're often the same—wanting resurrection benefits without crucifixion surrender. But Jesus is clear: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Denying yourself doesn't mean self-hatred or rejecting your personality. It means dethroning self from the center of your universe and enthroning Christ there instead. It means your preferences, comfort, reputation, and plans all become secondary to following Jesus wherever He leads.

The cross isn't jewelry; it's an instrument of execution. When Jesus spoke these words, everyone knew what crosses meant—public humiliation, complete surrender of rights, death to one's own agenda. To take up your cross daily means embracing the death of self-sovereignty.

But notice the promise: you'll find your life. The self we cling to so desperately is actually our false self, constructed from fear, pride, and wounded reactions. When we surrender it, we discover our true self, who God created us to be, freed from the exhausting performance of self-construction.

What are you trying to save that's actually keeping you from real life? What would it look like today to take up your cross—to embrace one specific way your agenda might die so Christ's life can flourish through you?

Nothing in my life is mine anymore, not plans, not dreams, not reputation. 

Surrender costs me the ownership of myself."