For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Mark 8:35

If this life is about giving it all away, then the pathway many of us must first take is to take ownership of that which is ours.

It may seem counter-intuitive at first, to have to take possession of something, only with the intent to then lose it, but unless you take ownership of something, unless you decide that something is your right to do whatever you please with it, you will never have the authority to release that authority to whomever you choose.

Take forgiveness: The first step in forgiveness is to say that something was wrong.  Many people are hesitant to take this very first, necessary, and basic step.  For, if you cannot say something was definitively wrong, there is nothing to forgive.  This is a great error that many people make, being unwilling to come to a definite conclusion that someone has wronged them.

There are two similar things.  In one way, pain is avoided.  Because no wrong is actually acknowledged, the negative feelings and emotions can be buried and stuffed away more easily.  But, when one acknowledges the pain, and that that pain was caused by someone else, and that it was something that they shouldn’t have done and that it was actually a wrong thing that they did, the pain and the anger surface.  It is only in this place that real forgiveness can happen.

But, this is true in every part of life.

We can live fractured lives.  Many can make great efforts at liberating the soul from the bondages of dead religion and bad teaching.  These things have made us fearful of being angry, of expressing our doubts, and of letting what is inside come out.   But, this has always only been half of the struggle.  It is only when we possess what is ours, the creativity, the expression, the hopes, and the dreams that are within us, that we have taken full possession of who we are as a person and we are able to do whatever we wish with them.

But, it is then from this place that we are then called to submit it all back to God.  It was His in the first place, and, as the scripture says, we can do nothing with it in our own efforts anyway.

So, why all the hassle to liberate our hearts anyway?  Because we were stuck.  We were in bondage.  We were sold in slavery to sin.  Those parts of us were in bondage to bitterness and iniquity, and to all sorts of evil.  So, we bring them to the liberty of Christ.  But why then, since I feel so free, must I then sacrifice them again and seemingly lose everything I just worked so hard to get brought out of bondage?

The human spirit was created to be united and whole.  Just as God is One, we are called to be one, and, as the New Testament says, a double minded man is unstable in all that he does (James 1:8).  Unless we liberate those parts of us, we will always have a hard time following God with all of our hearts.  But, as Jesus said, if we are fully lit, with no dark corners, it is like the light of a lamp is shining on us (Luke 11:36).

So, we liberate to be whole, and whole, we remember the words in red.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matthew 13:44

We liberate, because liberty is better than bondage.  We sell all, because He is worth more than all that we have or could ever do with it.

You see, as it has been said, you can’t give away anything you don’t have possess.  You cannot give away to God what you are not willing to own.  It is not circumventing and taking the easy road to simply deny those parts of you that you don’t like and say, God can just have them, because, in refusing to own them, you deny them to God.

Yet, it is just as futile, just as meaningless, to liberate those parts, and merely live a soulish life.

Truly, you cannot live a spiritual life without being set free, but you cannot be in Him if you retain them for your own selfish ends.

But, there is something wonderful that transpires when you give up all you have, you gain more in return–More than you could ever own (Mark 10:30).  There is something to losing in love that never runs out, for it is Him.

Just as you cannot forgive without acknowledging the pain, and you cannot give away the parts of you that you do not possess, it is only in the conscious, deliberate act of your will that you can die to this world, and enter into all that He has for you.

Many, probably, are offered this choice, but it becomes apparent that many do not make this choice.

As Jesus spoke,

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Matthew 13:22

There is that which heareth the Word, and though they respond to it, other things take up the soil of the heart, and remove the harvest from it.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Matthew 12:45-47

That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is Spirit (John 3:6).  There is nothing of this life that you can contribute to God’s works.  It is merely in simply obedience, following and obeying, and being His servant that we do His will, nothing more and nothing less.  As we do His words, the written Scripture and the freshly spoken direction, we are keeping in step with His Spirit.  Though we may create and do many things with our own guidance, nothing of this produces any lasting fruit, except that which is by and through His Way.