The world
And other people
Deal us grievous wounds

Not just to our person
But to those we love
To the values and institutions
That made us who we are
Whom we love like a mother

It is not right
To ignore those wounds
To say they don’t matter

For that
Would deny their worth
And reek
Of ingratitude

Surely Justice
Demands a Sacrifice
Of equal weight
To what we lost

Actually
It demands Two

The first is Christ’s
His death on the cross
For all the sins
We committed
And others committed
Against us

That one we know
In our heads

The much harder one
Is to Sacrifice our Self
That very identity
Which got us here

God loves that Self
As He loves His own Son
He cherishes our personhood
Our loved ones
Our values and institutions
Even more that we do

Yet unless a seed falls to the ground
And dies
It cannot bear
The fruit of the Spirit

So He calls us
To deny our Self
Take up our cross
And follow Him

For only
When we lose everything
For His sake
And the gospel’s

Can we truly enjoy
All those gifts
Without them becoming
Idols that enslave us
Or Laws that bring death

In fact
We can even rejoice
In the pain of those wounds

Knowing
THAT
Is what it feels like
To live like Jesus
To love like Jesus
And be loved
By God
Like Him