Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
– John 12:23-25
Jesus exposes the reality that our need for self-preservation leads to destruction. We spend our lives trying to preserve our self-image by climbing the ladder of success.. Only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall.
Jesus’ message is that in order to live, we must first die: we must loosen our grasp on our desire for youth, money, and success in order to learn what it really means to come alive.
What are ways you’ve experienced “death” in trying to preserve your self-image?
What would it look like to find life in the larger story of Jesus’ love, acceptance and grace?