Timeless Truths: To Follow Jesus – Take Up Your Cross Daily
Timeless Truths: To Follow Jesus – Take Up Your Cross Daily
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
Luke 9:23-25
All Scripture quotations are from the NIV.
Two things stand out in these verses.
- The honesty of Jesus. – He brings us face-to-face with the truth.
- Jesus never asks us to do anything that He did not do himself. – Jesus set the example for us to follow.
Re-read the command. Notice
- Cross bearing is always voluntary.
Crosses are not thorns. We choose whether or not to pick up our cross.
- Cross bearing is an act of love.
Cross bearing should always be a response to God’s love. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
- Cross bearing is hard.
More Insights
- Christianity is not about “me,” it’s always about God’s way.
- Bearing fruit where we are “planted” by God is our cross—doing the right thing regardless of the cost.
- Selfish living is harder than bearing our cross.
- Living a Christian life is the most challenging way to live.
- We identify with Jesus by carrying our cross.
- The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love.
WHEN WE CHOOSE TO PICK OUR CROSS, IT BECOMES OUR EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE FOR THOSE AROUND US.
Special thanks to Rev Tom Goble for the primary teachings used in this post.
Next Thursday's Timeless Truths Series: To Follow Jesus – Follow Jesus
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