Matthew 16:24-26 New International Version (NIV)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Luke 9:21-27 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
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? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Luke 14:25-27 New International Version (NIV)
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
All three of these scriptures mention that we must pick up our cross and follow Christ, but what does that really mean? There are many different interpretations, so I will provide mine.
It means taking responsibility for your actions. You cannot save yourself, Christ has already paid that cost through the shedding of his blood, but He expects us to take the sins we have committed and acknowledge them as such and then in turn deny ourselves from committing them again. We are not to make excuses when we fail, but to take action so that we can try to prevent it from happening again.
Next, is to pay whatever costs Christ asks of you. This may be rejection, persecution, embarrassment, giving away all your possessions, giving up your dreams, etc. Some may look at it as a form of torture. When Christ carried the cross for all of us, what happened to Him along the way. That is what He expects of us. It is not an easy path to take.
Finally, taking up your Cross will lead to death. It may or may not be physical death. When Christ was nailed to the cross, He suffered for hours before His death. Our death can come in many forms, such as being killed simply for your belief, dying to sin, dying to self, dying to pride, and dying to ego. As stated, there are many ways to die and those listed are not the only ones. Ultimately, it is dying to ways of the world and living with and as Christ which will make you even more alive.
People do not see what I have mentioned above as freedoms, but take a good hard look at your current life. What are you alive for? To make a name for yourself, to become rich, to acquire worldly possessions, or to have as much pleasure as possible. All of these make you a slave to the almighty dollar and actually give you less freedom than you may think.
Am I telling you to stop working, no. God has said that we will need to work to eat, but what are you really working for? It is amazing to watch a poor person and a rich person. A poor person will typically do what they can to help others because they have been there, while a rich person will usually do the exact opposite.
So are you willing to gain more freedoms than you have ever had by picking up your cross? I pray the answer is yes, but if you are having problems then seek help and guidance from the Lord.