For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For whosoever shall desire to save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.

Because whoever has a desire to keep his life safe will have it taken from him; but whoever gives up his life because of me, will have it given back to him.

For whoever would save his life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life for my sake, shall find it.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake, loses his life will find it.

For he that would save his life shall lose it. It is a most appropriate consolation, that they who willingly suffer death for the sake of Christ [1] do actually obtain life; for Mark expressly states this as the motive to believers in dying -- for my sake, and for the sake of the Gospel -- and in the words of Matthew the same thing must be understood. It frequently happens that irreligious men are prompted by ambition or despair to despise life; and to such persons it will be no advantage that they are courageous in meeting death. The threatening, which is contrasted with the promise, has also a powerful tendency to shake off carnal sloth, when he reminds men who are desirous of the present life, that the only advantage which they reap is, to lose life. There is a contrast intended here between temporal and eternal death, as we have explained under Matthew 10:39, where the reader will find the rest of this subject. [2]

Footnotes

1 - "Ceux qui meurent alaigrement pour Christ;" -- "those who die cheerfully for Christ."

2 - Harmony, [28]vol. 1 p. 472.

Whosoever will save his life - See the notes at Matthew 10:39.

For whosoever will save his life - That is, shall wish to save his life - at the expense of his conscience, and casting aside the cross, he shall lose it - the very evil he wishes to avoid shall overtake him; and he shall lose his soul into the bargain. See then how necessary it is to renounce one's self! But whatsoever a man loses in this world, for his steady attachment to Christ and his cause, he shall have amply made up to him in the eternal world.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall (t) find it.
(t) Shall gain himself: And this is his meaning, they that deny Christ to save themselves, not only not gain that which they look for, but also lose the thing they would have kept, that is, themselves, which is the greatest loss of all: but as for them that doubt not to die for Christ, it goes well with them otherwise.

For whosoever will save his life,.... Whoever is desirous of preserving himself from troubles, reproaches, persecutions, and death; and takes such a method to do it, as by forsaking Christ, denying his Gospel, and dropping his profession of it; and by so doing, curries favour with men, in order to procure to himself worldly emoluments, honour, peace, pleasure, and life,
shall lose it; he will expose himself to the wrath of God, to everlasting punishment, the destruction of soul and body in hell, which is the second death, and will be his portion:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake: that is, is willing to forego all the pleasures and comforts of life, and be subject to poverty and distress, and to lay down life itself, for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, rather than deny him, and part with truth,
shall find it; in the other world, to great advantage; he shall enjoy an immortal and eternal life, free from all uneasiness and affliction, and full of endless joys and pleasures.

For whosoever will save--is minded to save, or bent on saving.
his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it--(See on Matthew 10:38-39). "A suffering and dying Messiah liketh you ill; but what if His servants shall meet the same fate? They may not; but who follows Me must be prepared for the worst."

Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. He who refuses to deny himself, and makes saving and ministering to his present life his chief object, shall lose his life eternally.

Whosoever will save his life - At the expense of his conscience: whosoever, in the very highest instance, that of life itself, will not renounce himself, shall be lost eternally. But can any man hope he should be able thus to renounce himself, if he cannot do it in the smallest instances? And whosoever will lose his life shall find it - What he loses on earth he shall find in heaven. Matthew 10:39; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.