"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?"

"For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world, with everything it could offer you, at the cost of your own life?" -TPT. As I grow older, I'm learning that we, as friends of Jesus, take many of His words and unintentionally use them to support an idea that was not behind their original intent. Mark 8:36 can be used in many different ways to support many different beliefs. In the past, it has been used to support the idea that man must "take up his cross" and "follow Jesus," denying the desires of his heart and taking the "hard path" in order to go to "heaven." I'm going to not only rebut that interpretation, but give you a new one with a quite opposite message.

If you read Mark chapter 8, in verse 34, Jesus does, at first glance, appear to be telling His followers to "deny themselves," surrender all the desires of their heart, and follow the order of the monk in a continuous state of self-denial and chastity, following God by counting all the desires of their heart as "rubbish." However, if you read the following verses, Jesus is actually declaring how VALUABLE your life, soul, emotions, and desires are! He created them. Your emotions, heart, and desires are contained within your priceless soul. In verse 37, He says, "Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" -NIV. ("And what could be more valuable to you than your own soul?" -TPT.) Did you know that part of your "soul" is your emotions and yearnings? According to Strong's Concordance, the Greek Word (psuche) translated "soul" in these verses actually means "(a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b)  the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self, (e) a human person, an individual." Thayer's Greek Lexicon also defines the soul (psuche) as "the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions." Jesus is actually emphasizing the immeasurable VALUE of your desires, emotions, mind, heart, and every other part of your human self. In these passages of scripture, Jesus is not telling us to kill our life or our desires in order to experience true life! He is not telling us that our soul (emotions, breath of life, etc.) is evil. He is explaining that it's valuable and we should put our soul in HIM, and thereby find true life. If you're trying to gain your soul/life by denying  emotion, you have forfeited your soul, not only because your soul contains your emotions within it, but because you can't find life through any amount of self-denial anyway. Life only comes from Jesus. It doesn't matter how much you deny yourself or how hard you work. It still means nothing unless you gain your soul. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" 

Let me ask you a question. What good does hard work do if you are sacrificing your "true life" to do it? What good is self-improvement if you are sacrificing your emotions to do it? What good is intense training and outstanding physical accomplishment if you are sacrificing what Jesus says is most important: your soul. Your life. Your feelings. Your "breath of being." Your "self." Your "human personhood" and natural desires. You could earn the biggest biceps this side of the Mississippi, and it doesn't matter how HARD you worked and how much you denied yourself to get them. If you lost your soul (emotions, life, happiness) in order to get them, you have wasted your life. Many people think that you're wasting your life if you value your soul over your accomplishments, but it's the other way around. I don't know when we started thinking that our "soul" is worthless and that denying it in an attempt to get life is holy, but it needs to end. The desires of your heart are not weak, your emotions are not worldly and worthless, and "striving for greatness" is not what achieves true life and happiness. The way to achieve true life and happiness is listening to Jesus when He says your soul is good and priceless and that you should entrust it to Him. Seeking to gain your happiness through your hard work and emotional-denial or improve your soul through your self-sacrifice will only result in the loss of your life. "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." -NIV.