Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
This verse seems hard to assimilate. We know the times that Christ instructed us to love each other as believers as well as our neighbors. However, here we have Christ issuing a warning to followers. If you are coming to Christ for service, your love for Him must be so fervent that all others loves will seem as hatred.
However, most people I have spoken to considering God’s call for the ministry have expressed a concern over how others around them may feel if they respond to God’s call. They say, “Well, I would go but my Dad and Mom…” Or “I would go but my Siblings…” Or “I would go but I wanted to do __________ with my life.”
Your coming for His service is voluntary. However, there is one requirement: you must love Him more than anyone you know, anything you wanted to do, and anywhere you ever wanted to go! Does this describe your love of Christ? Are you amongst those that will claim your desire to serve him and yet will juggle their life’s loves to keep yourself, your friends, and family happy? Are you amongst those that seek to please your spouse as your chief priority only to abandon Christ?
Is your love for Christ so earnest that all other loves can only be valued as hatred? If not, adjust your relationships to people, places, and things so He is your chief love!
