Nobody wants to lose.

Across almost every culture, losing brings infamy. In our sports dominated American culture, the teams and players who lose frequently are embarrassingly mocked and quickly become the butt of jokes to the fans of opposing teams delight. Think the Cleveland Browns.

We see losing as a result of weakness, lack of preparation and poor execution. Losing has become so unpopular in our culture that we are trying to eliminate it all together. It has become easier to hand everyone a trophy just for showing up instead of identifying one team as a winner and by default, the defeat of their opponents, no matter how close or lopsided the defeat.

A loss means forfeiting what was or could have been. If you have a share in a company that goes bankrupt, the value of that share has dried up. The original investment is gone. A share in a company that no longer exists isn’t worth anything.

We are taught by society to minimize our losses at all costs. Losing is the worst-case scenario.

This isn’t what the Bible teaches us about reality. Losing is demanded by those who call themselves Christ-followers. The loss of anything that leads us away from source of life, Jesus Christ, is not considered a loss but great gain.

As the Apostle Paul so enthusiastically says in his letter to the Philippians:

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (3:8-9)

If we’re talking wins and losses here, clearly Paul sees only one path to victory. That is knowing Jesus. All else, including his impressive list of accomplishments as a Jew which he states in verses 4-6, amounts to nothing. He goes as far to compare them to skubalon in the Greek or literally, animal dung.

As we traverse the earth looking for where to place our trust, we naturally accumulate more options. Money, relationships, or even our own “goodness” act as our measuring stick of winning or losing. Nobody wants to lose at life, so of course we buy in and sign on for whatever might improve our chances of “winning.”

During Jesus’ time on earth, he frequently challenges his followers. One particular challenge he gave them was to lose.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their soul?” (Luke 9:24-25)

Jesus cuts straight through to the root of the issue by asking his disciples and ultimately all of us this question. Is there any point in gaining a bunch of things that will prove meaningless and while doing so forfeiting your own soul? Surely, the logical answer is no. The troubling truth is that many of us live believing the answer is yes, placing our confidence in for lack of a better word, crap.

Then, there is the belief that just like a bad investment, believing in Jesus and surrendering one’s life to him doesn’t amount to anything but comes with many costs. So, it’s a loss.

Humbly, I couldn’t disagree anymore. I don’t think anyone who believes this has considered the whole picture.

There is a loss when you follow Jesus. Your lifestyle must change. Sin must be confessed and turned from, not embraced and celebrated. He instructs those who want to be saved to lose their life. A life not lost, or yielded, to the God who created it may gain many great things in the eyes of the world, but God has a different perspective. If Jesus is nowhere to be found, the life is lost, no matter the other details.  In this sense, the loss actually leads to great gain. If your losing what will amount to nothing, but gaining everything in Christ, are you really losing at all?

With Jesus, is eternal life and freedom from the sin that enslaves us. He paid for it on the cross and we can receive this gift by believing in Him with our hearts. The life that has been dropped into the hands of the God who created this world and loves all he has made perfectly is no loss at all. It’s indescribable gain.

I’ve been noticing more and more recently just how glorious life is with Jesus. The struggles and trials that do come only result in a deeper intimacy with Him, generating a humble joy that doesn’t dip or rise with the peaks and valleys of emotion. Feelings of loneliness quickly are put back in their place when I consider the words of my God, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 3:15). As I read the proof of this statement that’s taken place throughout the history of this world in His word, I sink back into my chair and consider the one who always does what He says he will do. What is not worth losing to know Him even more?

He tells me he loves me. He showed me on the cross. I believe it.

There are no losses with Jesus.