Following Christ

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

The cross centered life is necessary to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means regularly putting our own will, our own desires to death.

Jesus says that to come after Him is to deny self: to follow Jesus is to put self to death.

Let the reader heed this thought and put it into practice and not be deceived by the many ways of "Christianity" in our day. There are always wolves in sheeps' clothing which want to have the world and claim Christ also. The daily pursuits are self centered rather than Christ centered. Christ is like the icing to their cake rather than the cake and the icing.

The cross is an instrument of death. Jesus says that if you are not putting yourself to death daily, you are not coming after Him and not following Him. Think about that for a while. Disciples put themselves to death daily to follow Jesus.

Taking up your own cross is the result of you coming to Jesus Christ's cross. Faith in Jesus Christ exhibits itself in this way of selfless love toward God and others. Genuine, sincere faith is busy thinking about the needs of others in relation to God.

Jesus lived a cross centered life demonstrated in love toward others because of His love for His Father. Those being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ shall also demonstrate loving faith in this way.