When you die to self, Jesus lives more powerfully through you. And so does his peace, his joy and his hope—it’s a deeper, fuller, more satisfying peace. It’s a more complete joy.
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SHAUNA: Well, get ready friend, because today, Joni has a hard saying for us.
JONI: Actually, it’s a hard passage from Scripture. But it is worth listening to and living by. It’s from 2 Corinthians 4 and this is what it says, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.” Now, I don’t think many people have made that their life verse—you know, to carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus—to always be given over to death for his sake. Like, what’s that all about, right?
Well, when I was on my feet, healthy and active; when I knew Christ as a young person, 2 Corinthians 4 was the kind of passage—boy, man, I would just flip past it. I’d skim by it, not because I did not understand it; it was because I did not want to understand it. To me, following Christ was the path to joy, and hope, and life—and even abundant life. And be given over to death for Christ’s sake sounded like a verse for persecuted Christians. Not me. Jesus was there to give me a peaceful, joyful, happy, hopeful life free of trouble. He saved me so that I could carry around his joy. Not his death. Yep, there were things about growing in Christ I did not understand—and I did not want to understand.
But then I broke my neck. I broke my neck in that diving accident and everything changed. Hardship hit me broadside, and I was stuck in a hospital, weak, paralyzed, for more than 18 months. I had no joy, no hope, no peace, and as I saw it, no life abundant. Maybe all that came easy before my accident, but now, hope and joy [and even life as I knew it] disappeared in the snap of a finger. It certainly didn’t say much for the depth of my faith.
Little did I know, though, that 2 Corinthians held the secret to the hope, and joy and peace—and the abundant life—all that I was looking for: To carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus. I learned that to be given over to death for Jesus’s sake, means to die to the idea that Jesus came to make our lives happy, and healthy, and free of trouble. Instead, Jesus came to rescue me—rescue me from myself. I had to die to cross-free living. For the Christian, there is no such thing. To carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus is to daily take up our cross and die to the sins that Jesus died for on his cross. In the hospital, I died to my dreams; I died to the idea of walking or ever using my hands. I had to die to life as I knew it. But that was okay! Because then—and only then—did the vibrant, joyful life of my Savior begin to well up within me. When I die to self, Jesus lives more powerfully through me. And so does his peace, and his joy, and his hope—it’s a deeper, fuller, more satisfying peace. It’s a more complete joy. It’s a [I don’t know] it’s a solid hope that’s unshakable in the face of any hardship.
SHAUNA: To help you understand more about 2 Corinthians 4 and dying to self, we want to give you a pamphlet called “Making Sense of Suffering.” It contains wonderful insights to help you carry with you the death of Jesus, so that you might experience the joy, the hope, the peace, and the life in the Lord that is yours. So, ask for your free copy by going to joniradio.org and start making sense of your suffering.
© Joni and Friends