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Author: Martin Steinbereithner, from the Servants of the Word, an international, ecumenical brotherhood of men living single for the Lord.

In the gospel according to Matthew, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

What a way to recruit followers, a real sales pitch: becoming part of my team means giving up ownership of your own life! That’s harsh, in fact, that’s crazy. Of the many things we seem to own, life is surely the most precious and it is certainly worth protecting, right? Wrong! The whole mystery of the Christian life is based on a paradox: you hold onto things, they melt in your hands, you give them away, they flourish and multiply. And this is most true about life itself: you try to figure it out for yourself, plan it out and work on implementing that plan, and you will assuredly fail. On the other hand, if you let go of it, placing it into Jesus’ care, he can turn it into something beautiful, albeit maybe different from what you expected.

Ask yourself today: Where can I let go of control in small ways today, where can I “deny myself”?

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.