Count It All Dung

Jesus said that we must lose our lives to gain them. That we are to bear our crosses daily. Bearing our cross has a negative connotation. Part of that comes from the urging of "sacrificial giving" by the paid clergy. We think we are giving up something that we "want." However, if we want it, then we do not realize what is better.

That is the point that Paul made when he explained what his "pedigree" as a Pharisee and an Israelite meant to him.

Phil 3:7-11
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (KJV)

Bearing our cross is giving up our reliance upon our selves for reliance on Christ. We have already died with Christ (Gal. 2:20), but we deny our selves daily so that the resurrected life of Jesus may live through us instead.

We get the better end of the bargain. Our finite created lives with limited strength and abilities are given up for His infinite life and abilities. That is not to say we use His life. Quite the contrary. He uses our lives. When we let go and let God, we enter into His rest. That is a great deal.

Therefore, I, like Paul and millions of other saints, count my life as dung. That does not mean I despise myself and call myself a wretched worm. It means that my abilities can not succeed in anything, so I rely on Jesus for everything. I encourage everyone who knows the Lord, to lay down your lives for the Lord and let Him live through you instead.