Gaining the world, losing your soul
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36
Jesus spoke those words after he told the crowds that they must deny themselves and carry their own crosses.
For many years, I read those words only theologically. But as I have begun contemplating on what it means to be happy, I realized something insightful and simple about the above verse.
Losing your soul is not only to be seen salvifically, it’s the utter chaotic soul that follows the man who has failed to master himself.
What’s the point of gaining the whole world if in the process you become corrupt and your base desires control you?
Fortune, fame, and wealth are meaningless if you haven’t mastered yourself.
Self-mastery or self-discipline is a prerequisite for happiness.