A List of Paradoxes

Here are the list of paradoxes that have been rattling around in my head. Right now I have a list of 19. Here are the first 5.

1. He who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

This is taken from the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Luke, but can be found throughout Scripture in various sayings. Jesus is the ultimate example. Philippians tells us that he humbled himself to accept death on the cross, now at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and profess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Whenever we humble ourselves, God will exalt and lift us up.

2. To live you must die to your self. To find your life, you must lose it.

Also found over and over again in the Gospels and repeated by Jesus. We have to die to the false self we have created, so that the true person created by God comes to life.

3. It is in giving that we receive. Give and it will be given unto you, pressed down, shaken and without measure

When we give away, we open ourselves up to receive God’s blessing.

4. If failure is not an option, then neither is success
I found this quote by Seth Godin. I had heard it as “You have to fail before you succeed.”

People who ultimately find success do not mind failing on their way to success. They can take failures and set backs and recognize them as part of the process of becoming successful.

5. We have a desire for significance and a desire to be completely unnecessary.

On one hand we desire for our lives to matter. On the other hand we need to know that we are not needed so we can get away from other people from time to time.