How much do we love God? Do we ever allow anyone, including ourselves, to keep us from obeying God in any way? Listen to what Jesus said:
“Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, ‘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 bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:25-27).
Jesus is not saying that we are not to love our family, nor is He saying that we should hate ourselves.
What He is saying is this:
If our parents are teaching us things that are not right with God, then we must put God first and obey His word over theirs. It is sad to see people who come to know the truth of God’s Word turn away from God’s truth because they don’t want to condemn their parents. That is not putting God first.
If our spouse would hinder us in any way or discourage us from serving God as we should, we must choose to serve God’s desires over the desires and opinions of our spouse. This is why it is vitally important to marry someone who will help you serve God and not someone who would hinder or discourage you in any way.
If our love for our children would cause us to neglect God’s Word in any way, we must choose God over our children. If our children grow up and are in sin, we cannot let our love for them blind us to their sin. If we truly love them, we will choose to love God more and strive to teach them the ways of God.
If our siblings would cause us to choose between them or God, we must choose God. We must choose the One who gave us life over the ones we simply share DNA with.
If we find our own wants, desires, and opinions conflicting with those of God’s, then we must choose God over ourselves. Selfishness is at the heart of all sin. We must crucify self and bear our cross with Jesus.
So again I ask, how much do we love God? Are we living it? Let’s give God our undivided devotion. Give Him our whole heart. Show those we love how much we love God and how much God loves us all. Love God above all.
A Cord of Blue 