Sometimes we have to lose our life in order to gain our life. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it? When you are caught deep in the snare of any sin, when you are caught deep in any web that surrounds you and won’t let you go, consider that it might be time to reinvent yourself, face suffering and hard times head on! Indeed, sufferings and hard times ultimately are on either path, I say, choose the path of doing what is right. Those sufferings and hard times will lead to gaining your life back. Now that I have confused you, let’s look at some things:
Mark 8:31-33 (TNIV)
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
While the suffering that Jesus must endure is not due to sin in His life, there are many parallels with the suffering we endure because of the sin in ours.
Jesus knows here that He must suffer, however, note that Jesus also knows that He will rise again <<<<<<<STRONG POINT. Jesus lost his life in order to gain His life. We can do that in the many things that we face every day.
Matthew 16:25 (TNIV, Jesus is talking)
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
When I found myself deep in addiction, everything about my life caused pain. All my relationships were tainted by my addiction. WHO I WAS….was tainted, tainted, tainted….. by my addiction! But it felt oh so good to get high!
The person caught in the snare of adultery feels the guilt, the tainted relationships, the daily pain coming from their actions………but in the midst of their adultery it feels oh, so good!
The person caught in the snare of porn addiction feels the daily weight of their sin, the shame and the guilt coming from their actions…..but in the midst of their weakness it feels oh, so good!
The person caught in the web of their lies knows it is wrong, pays richly when their lies are exposed, the pain, shame and damage to the trust of those around them digs them deeper in their pain. But…..in the midst of their lies, it feels good to get away with whatever they are lying about.
SO, what to do, what to do? In every case there is pain on the one side, the side of the sin. But also, in every case, the road out is a hard one. My question is, why choose the wrong pain.
The truth is, the pain of these sins leads to deeper pain and despair!
The truth is, that once you resolve to suffer forward…….suffer your way out of this sin……..you gain your life back, wholeness, reputation, respect, love and most of all…the closeness of your relationships with both God, indeed, with Jesus, and with others!
I gave up my life of addiction and had to reinvent who I was, because our sin truly defines us. In order to get beyond our sin, we must redefine ourselves. I did, and I gained my life back! LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN……. I gained my life back! I am FREE!
My father lived many years in his sin of adultery. Just like my addiction…..for a time it seemed good. But in the end, he died a broken man. The love that was born out of that sin abandoned him …..and carried on with his best friend…………and He was alone again. He should have taken the tough road ahead instead of the easy road of his sin.
When Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!”….He wasn’t saying that Peter himself was Satan……Jesus was saying that He knew God’s will and that Peter was tempting Him to take the easy road. In Jesus case here, Jesus knew God’s will. That he must be the suffering servant to die for our sins (Isaiah 53). When Peter rebuked Jesus, Jesus knew that Peter was leaving God out of the picture and focusing on his human concerns. Peter’s human concerns were for a Messiah that would crush the Roman occupation of their land and restore Israel to their prominence among all the nations.
So, whatever you are going through today, whether it be addiction to a substance, lying, adultery, porn addiction, a gossipy mouth, unforgiveness, hatred, and the list goes on and on……it is time to resolve yourself to suffer forward instead of wallering (I don’t know if that’s a word but it sure sounds good!) and prolonging your current suffering! It is time to look Satan squarely in the eye each and every day, each and every moment of every day and say with the power of the Holy Spirit that resides in your heart….”Get behind me Satan!”
Satan wants us to suffer in our sin, but in order to do that he tempts us with its pleasure. Satan wants us to choose His pain rather than the painful sacrifice that He knows will ultimately restore us to true life……indeed to FREEDOM! He wants us to think that our path to freedom is futile, that our pain is futile. BUT THE KEY IS………when we suffer through and sacrifice by putting this sin behind us in our lives…..when we “lose our life” (or what we were duped into thinking was our life)………..it is only then that we will find true life!
In whatever it is that you are facing, maybe it is a multitude of sins that you have allowed in your existence…..attack one at a time by loudly declaring, day by day, hour by hour….. “Get behind me Satan!” Next…….move on to the next one……”Get behind me Satan!” It will start to become apparent that Satan isn’t laughing anymore….but you are….because you got your life back.