Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
I believe that we *have* a body and we *are* a soul. The essential “us” is the soul. The body is our earthly shell. We’ll leave that shell behind when we die. Our souls will go to God. To my way of thinking, that explains why a body after death no longer truly looks like the person. The soul is what makes us who we are.
Mark 8:36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
The body is our human connection. And we can indulge the body in all kinds of physical ways–eating, drinking, drugs, sex, etc. But Jesus reminds us in verse 36 that those kinds of indulgences are only physical, only earthly, and they are not worth any potential damage to the soul. Earthly indulgences are not worth an eternal price tag.
Mark 8:37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Precious Savior, Thank You for the understanding that I *have* a body, but I *am* a soul, that my soul is the core of who I am, and that it belongs only to You. Thank You that no earthly pleasures are worth the cost of eternity. Help me not to fall into the traps of this world, which is all about the body. Help me to focus on You, to be Your hands and feet, to shine Your light. Always. Amen.
Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Have a blessed day.