As I’ve been meditating on the past year and the blank slate in front of me, I can’t help to reflect on the things I’ve lost. I’ve lost the person I used to be; the friends who used to surround me and the lifestyle I was so accustomed to. I don’t think I necessarily miss these things but the amount of change I’ve undergone inside and out in the past two years has been drastic.
I believe that any drastic change is traumatic. Oxford Language defines traumatic as emotionally disturbing or distressing, and I would definitely agree that my life has been so since becoming a born-again believer.
The changes, or rather improvements, made have been for the betterment of my life and those around me. I would have never been able to reach the things I have achieved if I had stayed the same.
But still, it’s been emotionally taxing. Leaving behind everything I’ve grown to love and even those things I considered to be a part of my identity.
This shouldn’t be a surprise though. In Luke 14, when there was a massive crowd following Jesus, He told them straight up what it requires to truly be his disciple.
“When you follow me as my disciple, you must put aside your father, your mother, your wife, your sisters, your brothers; it will even seem as though you hate your own life. This is the price you’ll pay to be considered one of my followers.”
LUKE 14:26 TPT
Jesus said in this passage that in order to be a true follower of His, that every other relationship in your life must be set aside.
My mother is the best example of a devoted disciple on this side of glory, and I admit I always felt like I came second to her. I can’t recall any one-on-one time we spent together nor was she around much during my younger years. I can recognize now that, in addition to a full-time traveling job, she prioritized her relationship with Jesus and the call on her life.
No matter who it is or how special they are to you, we’re commanded to put them aside for Jesus. That’s how special He must be to us.
It’s not that God is calling us to live a life of isolation. In Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus explains that our fellow believers, those who do the will of the Father are our family. God is calling us out of worldly, natural structures into His heavenly Kingdom, but we have to be willing to participate in this divine exchange.
“…it will even seem as though you hate your own life.”
LUKE 14:26b TPT
I believe this means that to outsiders and even within ourselves at times, we may feel like we are denying ourselves of true desires and sacrificing what may have been important to us at one time, but we are.
“Anyone who comes to me must be willing to share my cross and experience it as his own, or he cannot be considered to be my disciple”
LUKE 14:27 TPT
Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame for the joy that was set before Him. What are we willing to endure for God’s joy to be manifest in us?
The amazing thing is that God is not requiring that we literally be hung from the cross, but that we, too, swallow the shame, disappointment and pride to suffer and sacrifice for the Will of God.
ALIAH KIMBRO
God has promised so much for those who love Him. And He’s said if you love Him to keep His commandments. We have to go through the journey of sacrificial obedience in order to reap the blessings of God.
The ministry of the cross is that it becomes our experience. Through dying to self and fleshly desires we are resurrected as a new creation in Christ Jesus. We are able to experience the Kingdom of Heaven and the overwhelming Glory of God now.
“So don’t follow me without considering what it will cost you. For who would construct a house before first sitting down to estimate the cost to complete it? Otherwise he may lay the foundation and not be able to finish. The neighbors will ridicule him, saying, ‘Look at him! He started to build but couldn’t complete it!’”
LUKE 14:28-30 TPT
Jesus is letting us know that we must seriously assess the cost of being his disciple before we commit to following Him. He knows it is a process that will strip us of everything, and it may be too much for some.
He warns us against being like a builder who doesn’t estimate the cost of completion and is not able to finish construction. This builder was being watched by those around him, who eventually ridiculed him after seeing he was not able to follow through.
Jesus doesn’t want us to be like that builder. He wants our light to shine among men. He wants our lives to be a living testimony to the power and glory of God.
But before we live, we have to die.