Change is one of the most difficult things for us to do. Many of us are unwilling to change who we are because we are afraid to risk losing something we have gained. We are unwilling to move from something certain to something uncertain.
Most of us spend a lifetime trying very hard to remain the same as we are while acquiring all the things we want. We may say we want something different or something greater, but we are unwilling to change anything about ourselves to have it. Life for us is a battle to remain just as we are.
We know that the Lord offers many things that are gains to us. But to have the gains that He offers to their fullest, we must learn there will likely need to be a loss in something about us that we like. I don’t believe the Lord blesses us so that we can remain the same as we are. He expects His blessings of gain to result in the greater blessings we get in the of loss of something about us that keeps us back.
Scripture tells us something like this in Philippians 4:7 where Paul tells the Philippians, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” Paul was saying he counted all his past gains as losses so he could gain the love of Christ. He couldn’t have both.
This mindset was very difficult for me to accept. I didn’t want to give up any of the things I had or to change anything about who I was. But I still wanted the things that God had for me. I learned life with God doesn’t work that way. Where there is gain with Him, you will always be asked to find loss for Him in something about who you are.
If you want His friendship, you must learn to lose your friendship with the world.
If you want to gain the favor of hearing Him, you must lose the desire to hear the world too.
If you want to gain the favor of Him speaking through your life, you must become silent in how you speak about your life.
If you want to gain the favor of having spiritual eyes, you must lose the use of your earthly sight.
If you want to gain the favor of His love, you must lose the trap of loving yourself more than you love others.
Gain through loss is God’s way of helping us understand that we must always find ourselves changing something about ourselves.
If you have given up your life as an unbeliever, that loss is a blessing by itself. Rejoice!
If you have gained the life of becoming a believer, that is a blessing that happens because you had a loss. Rejoice!
If you have stopped living an unbelieving life and are now living a believer’s life, your gain and loss are each a blessing. Rejoice!
If you were blind to the truth but now you see, this gain and this loss are both blessings. Rejoice!
If you were deaf to God but now you hear Him, you have a gain and a loss that are blessings. Rejoice!
If yesterday you spoke more like the world but now you can hold your tongue to allow the Lord to speak through you, that is a gain and a loss, and both are blessings.
Look at your life. If you find you want more for your life, but you have not given up much, it may be because you are unwilling to lose what you must lose about you to gain something greater about you that you do not have.
Be blessed by the gains and the losses God has in His plans for us.
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