True thriving, as revealed in John 12:24-26, is not self-improvement but the paradoxical life that springs from death to self. Jesus likens it to a grain of wheat that must fall into the ground and die in order to bear much fruit. Real thriving holds together an inward delight in God and an outward blessing of others, rejecting both inner turmoil with outward success and inward peace with outward selfishness. In contrast to the world’s self-focused “optimized” thriving, Christ calls for a reordering of loves where the love of God becomes the controlling affection and self-love is dethroned. This death to self—embraced in marriage, friendship, and every arena of life—produces the fruit of the Spirit and a life that resembles Jesus rather than the self. And what makes such death possible is the compelling love of Christ, whose own cross demonstrates that loss for His sake leads to true life and lasting fruitfulness.