Following Christ

Luke 14

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

To follow Jesus, you must love Him above everything and everyone else. Jesus will not take second place in our lives, it is all or nothing. I like the way the NLT renders this passage, because Jesus isn’t saying that you must “hate” everyone else, but that your love for Jesus should be so strong that by comparison your relationship with anyone and everyone else would more closely resemble hate than love. Jesus also says that in order to be a Christ Follower we must deny ourselves even to the point of a shameful death. May my life reflect my love for Jesus, and may everyone else know that they don’t even come in 2nd place in my love list. May I deny my own evil desires and die to my selfish ways as I follow Christ daily.