You are called to die before you die. In this dying you accept the demise of your own ego for a higher good. In this dying you live. In this dying there is a new way of living. In this dying there is real fruit bearing. What you thought would bind you has freed you. In this liberation you discover the joy of the other person. You are released to a new level of joy. You are freed to love as God has loved you. There is no real freedom without this kind of dying.
And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” John 12:23-25 (NASB)
