In a culture that prizes personal freedom and rebels against anything that thwarts individual autonomy, Jesus’ invitation sounds strange – “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) We’re taught to chase our dreams and pursue our potential, not to deny ourselves and conform to another. And yet Jesus’ curiously uncompromising demand is followed by the great paradoxical promise of God’s Kingdom – “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35). The upside-down truth of Jesus’ realm is that when we surrender all, we gain all. When we do what looks like losing all for Jesus’ sake, we end up winning all. When we take Jesus’ path of self-denial, we discover the freedom of self-fulfillment.
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