Taking Up Your Cross and Following Him - How Do You Do it?

Luke 14:

26 If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my disciple.

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Comment:

So, it is not enough to hate your brother, sister, wife, and children…and yourself – you must also bear your cross and follow Christ.

You know when you fall in love with someone – especially your spouse – you somehow find a way to love him or her more than your family. Not that you love your family less but it seems to happen that way. You are able to leave them behind and marry this person you know less than your family. It is an enigma. You live with that person, have kids with them, and forget your family altogether. And what’s worse – it feels natural. It feels normal. And the world even accepts it.

So it is possible to fall in love with God – and feel natural about leaving everyone behind – even leaving yourself behind. When your heart is turned towards God and the Holy Spirit comes to work in your heart, stuff you used to love and think great in the past can now become a sorrow, an albatross, even something you scorn. And it feels natural. It’s not something you make an effort with. I mean naturally it doesn’t happen overnight – this falling in love with Christ – sometimes it does seem like it’s overnight. But the giving of yourself up completely, for myself anyway, is definitely gradual.

So then you find yourself hating yourself – your life, stuff you used to love – used to feed yourself with – now you feel disdained over. You lose interest in so many things you used to love. But that’s not even enough – Christ said you must bear your cross on top of this. Your cross? What could it be? I guess it depends on the person. For me personally, I feel like my cross would be my prayer life – the denying of myself in doing so many other stuff my mind can come up with – and obeying the call of the Holy Ghost to pray and to commune with Him. It’s also being holy. Thinking of God all day and denying my thoughts from the pleasure of sin – anything that might separate me from Christ – hateful thoughts, unclean thoughts, negative thoughts, lustful thoughts and or covetousness for material things…things you feel in the Holy Ghost that is not right – you deny yourself with. You take up this cross of denial – of being holy and upright at all times with Christ…and you follow Him every step of the way. You accept the Holy Ghost’s corrections. As soon as you sin, you confess and asks for forgiveness. There is also the cross of praising, lifting you heart and soul of thanksgiving and love to Him. When you find yourself remembering, you immediately love Him. All these “good works” of course can only be possible through the Holy Spirit.