Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). Jesus emphasized two points.
First, true discipleship requires crucifying self (Matthew 16:24; 10:38-39; Galatians 2:20). To “deny himself” shows that each individual must cease serving his own will and totally give himself to God (Matthew 16:24; Romans 8:5-9; Colossians 3:1-14). “Take up his cross” (Matthew 16:24) does not refer to minor inconveniences, but to the consequences of dying to self (Matthew 10:16-22, 34-39)—taking on a death sentence with Christ!
Second, true discipleship requires giving one’s entire being to Christ (Matthew 16:25). To save one’s temporal life at all costs (accomplished by refusing to “take up one’s cross”) leads to the loss of eternal life, but to lose one’s temporal life as a result of “taking up one’s cross” results in eternal life. All true disciples of Christ must be “willing” to lay their lives down for Him (Revelation 2:10).
[Editor’s Note: That suffering and true discipleship go together is apparent from 2 Timothy 3:12, which reads, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (NKJV). Without seeking undue hostilities from the devil’s world in which we live (John 15:19; Revelation 12:9), nevertheless, persecution of the children of God will arise in proportion to the degree of godliness and Christian militancy that they characteristically exhibit in their daily Christian living (1 Peter 3:14; 4:12-16). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
