25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. (Luke 14:25-32)
Large crowds were traveling with the Lord Jesus, because of His teachings, the many signs and wonders He performed, or for other reasons. The Lord said to them: “If anyone comes to me and does not love me more than his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” In the original Greek, the word used is “hate”, to “hate” one’s family; the parallel passage in the Gospel of Matthew also speaks of loving the Lord more than anyone else. The Lord Jesus does not literally mean we should “hate” our family, for the Bible teaches us to honor our parents and love one another. Here, the Lord Jesus teaches us to put Him first, to love Him more than our family and even our own lives, otherwise, we cannot be His disciples. We cannot be His disciples unless we deny ourselves and take up our own cross to follow Him. We know of builders who start building a building without properly calculating the cost, only to find themselves unable to finish it; similarly, the Lord Jesus wants us to count the cost of discipleship so that we may persevere to the end. He used another parable regarding warfare, discipleship involves a spiritual battle, we need to count the cost. Being a disciple is not merely about receiving God’s blessings; it requires obeying the Lord, denying ourselves, and putting the Lord first rather than putting our family or ourselves first. We must count the cost and follow the Lord faithfully to the end.
May God bless you and your family!
