If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 

                                                                                                     Luke 14:26-27 

Today: Read Luke 14

We have already seen that repentance is imperative to receiving salvation from God through Jesus Christ. But when we are saved that is only the beginning. At conversion, we are then launched into a life full of purpose, provision, and protection. As believers, Christ does not just become a part of our lives; He is our life.

There seem to be two distinctive types of people both professing faith in Jesus. One group represents those who compartmentalize their relationship with Christ. Jesus is reduced to being a safeguard against eternal condemnation. He is there only when needed. He occupies a part of life but certainly does not affect the daily decision making of these people. Life is still lived in the strength and direction of the individual. While certainly not unbelievers, these people have not entirely surrendered themselves to the direction of Jesus.

The second group are those who have not compartmentalized their relationship with Jesus rather they have Christ set firmly in place at the center of their existence. Life becomes all about Jesus. Decisions, plans, desires, and dreams all run through the lens of devotion to Christ. Jesus is more than a Savior. He is the very One in whom life makes sense and in whom these believers find joy, purpose, and meaning. Just like the planets of the solar system all revolve around the sun, the Christian life revolves around Christ who exists at the center of it all.

Today’s passage reveals the truth about these two perspectives. Jesus is teaching about the centrality that must exist in the life of a follower of Jesus. In the life of a believer, nothing and no one can take priority over Christ. Consider Jesus’ words:

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Is Jesus telling us to hate our family? When we consider that God is love (1 John 4:8), that husbands and wives are to love and respect each other (Ephesians 5:22-33), that children are to love, obey, and honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3), and that Christian love is the fulfillment of God’s Law (Romans 13:10), it would be unreasonable to suggest that Jesus is teaching us to hate our families. This type of language should not be problematic. I believe that Jesus is using a device to emphasize the importance of spiritual priority. I believe that Christ is telling us that nothing, including our earthly relationships, can become greater than our devotion to Him. I believe that by using the word “hate” Jesus is drawing a clear distinction between our devotion to Him and our loyalty to others. This is not the only place in scripture where we can observe this type of device. Consider the following:

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

                                                                                                 Matthew 5:29-30 

I have never met a Christian who interprets this literally. I do not believe that Jesus is teaching self-mutilation rather is drawing a comparison between tolerating sin in our lives to radically dealing with it. The device is purposely graphic to demonstrate the importance of dealing with that issue.

So we do not hate our families rather we love them. However, earthly relationships should never take the place of our relationship and devotion to Christ. When we place our own desires above that of Jesus, we are involved in nothing short of idolatry. Jesus demonstrates the incompatibility of living in idolatry while attempting to follow Him when He declares that those whose lives are characteristic of this “cannot be my disciples.”

For whom or what do you live your life? Is there something or someone for which you have a greater devotion than Christ? Do you just compartmentalize Jesus as a safety net or have you firmly placed Him in the center of your life? Father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even ourselves must not be placed above our devotion to Jesus. Determine to make Jesus the priority of your life today!