Today's Christian lesson is on giving up things for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ. I post these lessons as they are given to me by the Holy Spirit. They come as promptings or as nudgings from Him/Her/It. Not sure if I can attribute a gender to the Holy Spirit but that is the topic of conversation for a different day.
Sometimes we as Christians are asked to make sacrifices for the sake of the Cross. The sacrifices may mean giving something up when we are called to. Indeed I have sacrificed much as I have shed my old life and embraced the new life in Jesus. I have given up old habits, old friends, relatives who were clearly incompatible with my moving forward in the faith, and much more.
The fact that we will be called to make sacrifices is quite clear in the Bible. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:34-39
Let us be clear that Jesus is not calling on us to give up our parents or our relatives or our friends. He is calling on us to put HIM first in your heart and in all you say and in all you do. If there is a conflict in your heart between something else and Jesus, Jesus must come first. There can be only one #1 in your life, and that must be the love of God and love of Christ. Everything and everyone else must be #2, #3, #4, #5 and so on.
Sometimes we as Christians are asked to make sacrifices for the sake of the Cross. The sacrifices may mean giving something up when we are called to. Indeed I have sacrificed much as I have shed my old life and embraced the new life in Jesus. I have given up old habits, old friends, relatives who were clearly incompatible with my moving forward in the faith, and much more.
The fact that we will be called to make sacrifices is quite clear in the Bible. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:34-39
Let us be clear that Jesus is not calling on us to give up our parents or our relatives or our friends. He is calling on us to put HIM first in your heart and in all you say and in all you do. If there is a conflict in your heart between something else and Jesus, Jesus must come first. There can be only one #1 in your life, and that must be the love of God and love of Christ. Everything and everyone else must be #2, #3, #4, #5 and so on.
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