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If one person says to another: “You are my life”, he expresses herewith: “You are the most precious person that  exists for me, you are more important than my life. All my love belongs to you.”
The life of Paul, the Apostle, verifies, that he stood in exactly the same love-affair towards Christ. He was so overcome by the love of the Lord, that he could do nothing else than surrender fully to it. That is why he describes himself often as the “prisoner” of Jesus. Let us not remain by this observation alone but, according to the title above, ask ourselves how does our attitude stand towards Christ. Quickly it is made clear by a love ­affair, that meeting and experience are presupposed. I think that we all have meetings with our Lord and in many ways do experience Him in our daily lives. Notwithstanding it happens quite often, that He meets us but we don’t recognize Him. It is characteristic, when we tell about our God-experience, that we mostly describe such events in which we were protected from great dangers, delivered from misery, from sickness released.
Undoubtedly these are extraordinary experiences. But how sad it would be, if we should overlook the countless daily proofs of His kindness and closeness to us. What mercy it is, that we are allowed to have a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and food to eat. How richly has the Lord endowed us with those who love us and we are allowed to love them. What a treasure is the community in which we have found a spiritual home and brothers and sisters, who fold their hands for us.  How glad may we be, that God gives gifts to the community whereby He reveals Himself and gives gifts from His hand, which we are allowed to live, full of opportunities and chances, to meet Him and experience Him for ourselves. How wonderful are His promises, which give us the foundation under our feet, energy to live, hope to hold on and makes us joyful contemporaries. Should we count everything what God’s love presents us with, we would come to no end. How great is the Almighty’s goodness! Is there a man who is not moved by it? So it says in the hymn, To be moved by Christ’s love, leads to love Him in return.
The Apostle Paul’s confession: “Christ is my life” reaches yet far beyond a “declaration of love”. It is the expression of acknowledgement, without Christ is to be dead. This is intended also for us to acknowledge! Surely, we are familiar with the truth of the gospel, of our only possible deliverance through Christ’s grace, so many times have we absorbed it with the “mother’s milk” (the sincere milk of the word). But hand laid on the heart: Do we really and truly and transiently know and realize our lost condition, without Him? ” … what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mat 16:26), Jesus asked His disciples. The answer is clear. Firstly, the recognition of the need of being saved clears the way to truly strive for God’s mercy, a way which leads to true joy, joy in the Lord. “The grasping of Christ’s healing deed in faith, makes this solemn word “grace transform heaven into a smile.” “Christ is my life”, a statement which becomes every one of us, because it describes exactly our life’s situation. But also a statement which is the result of growth.
Let us turn to the second part of our word: To die is my gain.  Exactly this is the point. Shall the newness of water and spirit born again man be “grown up”, this can only come about when the old “Adam” dies. A truly lengthy and sometimes real painful but un-renouncing process. How much of our selfish, godless nature has to die! But how good it is that we don’t have to accomplish this in our own strength. We would undoubtedly be sentenced to complete failure, “Without me ye can do nothing “, Jesus tells us bluntly. But what a consolation to know; Without Him, we don’t have to do anything! He is in command, His strength wants to have the mastery over us weak ones.
Always there, where the force of the Holy Spirit “prospers”, peace multiplies and reconciliation with God, new life begins. This is the dying that results in a priceless gain. Little by little our, oft-times shortened and clouded, sight becomes clear. We learn to discern between importance and unimportance. We recognize the limitations of our earthly efforts, but with the growing nearness to our Lord also grows the longing for complete union with Him. It becomes more distinct: That, what we enjoy in this earthly life, as wonderful as it may be because of God’s goodness, is only a reflection of what He holds in store for those who love Him. This glad awaiting of Christ’s return and the resurrection to eternal life in all closeness to God, takes the fear away from the natural and much more from the spiritual death, because Christ is our life and dying is our gain.