"I Hate My Life!"

“God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” – Hebrews 12.10-11

Encountering spiders in the shower, roaches in the kitchen and ants in our pants has made “I hate my life” a commonly used phrase (jokingly, of course) among the students on our DTS. I have been in Australia for over a month now and the past couple of days I have been more than a little bitter about my living conditions. I thought that when I left Charleston – Jason, my friends, family, church, income and the comfort and security of the United States – I was giving it all up for Christ. Tonight, I realized that I hadn't. Mark 15:26 says “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” I realized that I hadn’t died to myself – my selfish desires for air conditioning, high speed internet, proper extermination and the like. Jesus doesn’t literally want us to hate our families or our selves. We should, however, “hate” them compared to the way we love Jesus. There should be a difference in the way and amount that we love Jesus and prioritize our lives. Tonight I left my selfish desires at the cross and realized that it is a good thing to hate my life. John 12:25 says “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” So, every time I want to complain, I will just stop and remind myself that I hate my life in the best way possible.