And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26 NLT
Can you imagine what it was like to be in that room? Jesus had predicted His death, and the disciples all rejected the thought. Peter even tried to reprimand Him for saying such things, and Jesus sternly said to Peter, “Get away from me. Satan is using you. You are a dangerous trap to me because you are seeing things from a merely human point of view, not from God’s.”
As shocking as it must have been for Jesus to call Peter out like that, He went even further. Addressing all of them, He said they were playing with fire if they were doing anything in life other than laying down everything else to follow Him. And then He gave them the ultimate reality check: “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” No amount of earthly wealth, status, or power is worth forfeiting your spiritual integrity and eternal relationship with God.
It’s very easy to adopt the definition of successful life to which most of society subscribes – accumulating possessions and money, building prestige and influence, climbing ladders that do not lead anywhere lasting. Any gain or reward we get for less than becoming like Christ and working with God in our unique assignment in His Kingdom will not last.
Your soul is the core of your identity, what will last forever and ever. It has infinite, immeasurable worth. Jesus is asking us to do the math. Even if you reach every goal you ever set, acquire every single thing you ever wanted, and are touted by the world around you as a spectacular success, you will be a total failure if it costs you your soul.
Jesus called His disciples to radically evaluate their priorities, their focus, and how they would live their lives. He calls us to do it too.
- If you feel the tension in Jesus’ question and voice, that’s good. Don’t run from it. Life is measured by our response to Jesus’ question. Get it right. Everything that matters depends on it.