Lose Yourself to Find Yourself

“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?” - ‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:23-25‬ ‭MSG‬‬

“Who am I?” This is a question that has been asked by man from the beginning of time. For ages, man has attempted to find the answer through books, articles, podcasts, and even Google. Yes, out of desperation to know who they are, countless people have the turned to the algorithms of Google, depending on a mathematical formula to tell them who they are. As a result, people are doing everything they can think of to get an answer, such as searching for their purpose and identity, looking for the definition to their existence.

There are some who will tell you “Follow your passion!” Another will say “Write your own destiny!” While these tips sound amazing and inspiring, neither will lead you to a sure answer. Both of these methods require a high dependency on feelings and emotions and opinions and neither are a sure foundation as they both change based on how we’re feeling any given day. What I want to be clear on is that this is not about money but about calling and purpose. There are people who will seem successful in getting money but still experience a void in calling and purpose.

Jesus shows us Heaven’s method to finding your true self, a method that appears to be completely backwards from what the world tells us to do. In Luke 9:23-25, He gives us three instructions:

1. Follow Him. Why do we follow Jesus? We follow Him because “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” ‭‭(John‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬) Following the One that created you is the most sure thing you can do versus following people who change as quickly as the shadows created by the sun.
2. Embrace Suffering.  - “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:3-4‬ ‭NIV). Suffering has the power to develop us deeply, producing perseverance and character, whereas running abandons the development process.
3. Self Sacrifice. The denial of self is the only way we can become available to flow in God's plan for our lives.  If we were honest, we are clueless and the only one that knows our intended purpose is the one that created us. This requires the laying down of our own agenda, that which is important to us, to receive the will of God for our lives.

I know all of these to be the true as I tried them for myself. In my commitment to know Him in every way, I discovered the truth about who I am. This is the key to transitioning from existing to thryving in Jesus Christ. My prayer is that you would make the decision to lose yourself in this season to find yourself in the one that created you.

I'm praying for you and with you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks

Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturdays at 8am for "Prayer at the Altar" by dialing 339- 207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service! Learn More