It’s fall. The days are getting shorter, and the birds gather together to fly South once again. In the mountains there is already a layer of snow, and the leafy trees are losing their last leaves. I’m amazed about the fact that trees lose their leaves anew every fall. This “letting go” is necessary in order to prepare for winter, so that new green leaves can grow again in the spring.

This same principle is at work in our lives. There are many areas in which we have the opportunity to learn to let go. Sometimes we need to let go of beloved people, sometimes our home, and often our dreams and conceptions. Our life doesn’t belong to us, and we have the chance to learn to let it go. Or, as it is poetically expressed in the book of Job: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.”

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:39

Jesus, who spoke these words to his disciples, gave up his own life and died on a cross for our sins in order to reconcile us to God.

We can let go of our lives with the certainty that after the winter a new spring will come. Letting go in faith that eternal life is given to us in Jesus Christ.

What is keeping you from letting go of your own life?

Applicable Bible text: Matthew 16:26-27