I woke up one morning with this in my head, and wrote it in my journal:

The cross is ugly,

The cross is beautiful.

The cross kills,

The cross gives life.

The cross is God’s hatred towards sin,

The cross is God’s love towards us.

On the one hand, the cross deals a death blow to pride, vanity and selfishness

On the other hand it’s beauty is evident by the suffering of a sinless Saviour

Who can say whether it is one or the other?

It is both.

For Jesus is meant death, pain and suffering,

If we follow Him, it will for us too.

But this is the only way to life and hope

You can’t have the life of the Saviour

Without first, having the death of the Saviour

You can’t take a short-cut

First the pain, then the relief,

First the sorrow, then the joy,

First the death, then the life

“Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it stays alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12:24)