Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.
- KJV He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
- BSB Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- NKJV He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- NASB The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever loves his life loses it, but whoever hates it in this world keeps it forever. Discipleship requires self-denial.
Overview
Jesus applies the principle of the dying seed to his followers, calling for a life surrendered rather than self-serving. To 'hate' one's life is to refuse to make this world's life ultimate, holding it loosely for Christ's sake. The promise is eternal life for those who follow the pattern of the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 10:39He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
- Luke 9:23–24He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
- Mark 8:35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.
- Luke 17:33Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it.
- Matt 16:25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
- Acts 20:24But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
- Matt 19:29Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive one hundred times, and will inherit eternal life.
- Rev 12:11They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
- Eccl 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Acts 21:13Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
- Gen 29:30–33He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
- Heb 11:35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 12:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.