Taking Up the Cross

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.’” Luke 9:23-24 NIV

Following Christ is difficult. The world teaches us to focus on ourselves. We learn to worry about our reputations and statuses. It is our way of saving our lives through our own means. We ensure that we don’t become an enemy of the world, by not standing out in opposition to it, because we don’t want to be attacked.
      We need to put this me above all else mentality to rest if we truly want to follow God.
      People will punish us for what we don’t deserve. We will suffer unjustly for living the truth and standing in His name, but we must never deny who we truly are. That’s what I see taking up the cross as meaning.
      There is a tendency to hide our status as children of God and give up our namesake in order to fit in with the world and save ourselves trouble.
      Taking up our cross and following Him is a difficult lifestyle because we are going against the culture of self-gratification and selfishness. And, it’s made even harder by the discouragement we face. But, if we allow our niche in the world to be taken away, God will give us an even better place to rest, in Heaven with Him. An eternity in the presence of His perfect love.