Jesus is not asking me to do anything less than to identify with Him on the cross. When that happens, He will identify Himself through my life. His Spirit comes alive when I willingly lay down my “self”. Daily dying to self is what is required of those who want to be used by God and embody Christ. As with many things in Christianity, the paradox of finding life in losing it is found in a verse like this. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die”.

Being crucified with Christ doesn’t mean I wear a cross but rather the cross wears me. When I surrender myself to Christ and His cross, I become alive and His life is found in me. This life that flows from the cross is a life of faith in Christ alone, not my dying ability, not my act of self-crucifixion but in Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection. Christ gave Himself out of love for me and He is not looking for me to come to Him for any other reason than out love either. Love gives. Love dies. Love conquers. Love remains.