Hate Your Life in This World - Jesus Says So!

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” John 12:25 

This verse has always comforted me. Ever since adolescence, there is no question that I have hated my life in the world. The world got much more complicated and challenging when I hit adolescence, and then came notable sufferings later in my life that led me even more into hating my life in this world. It may sound strong, but it’s true. 

This world is hard. Very hard. The truth is that it’s a lot of toil, serving, and suffering with some moments of life and joy mixed in.

My life has been a series of small deaths. Death to my dreams. Death to my perfect health. Death to the career I wanted. Death to the family I desired. Death to certain relationships. Death to a mission I fell in love with. Death to security. If God has shown me anything, it’s how to die to this world, and He keeps showing me it, especially when I resist the lesson.

And yes, newness of life has come to pass most of the time. New dreams surfaced. New relationships came. New career paths emerged. My mission broadened. My dependence on God deepened. A greater sense of well-being came to pass. That’s what Jesus means when He says in the Gospel today: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” John 12:24 

There is a very real sense in me that this life isn’t all there is and that the next life will be where my true joy is found. That keeps me going when things are difficult and don’t work out the way I hoped.  I don’t have to manipulate things to go my way. I don't have to get desperate for the things I want. I don’t have to have my dreams come to pass. I don’t have to love my life in this world. I don’t have to have and experience everything - exhausting myself and my wallet in the process. It's actually quite free-ing.

I just have to do my best, serve God, suffer patiently, and keeping growing in the direction of His will because there’s something greater coming that He has promised me. Life is about living through the deaths, experiencing the new lifes, living His truth, and hoping in the bigger promise.

So today, if you’re one of those people who hates your life in this world, take heart. Jesus speaks to you today and says: You’re on the right track. And if you're someone that loves your life in this world, maybe there's a lesson to be learned from the people around you who don't.