In Luke 14 starting at verse 26, Jesus makes an astounding statement, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Wow, how can this be, Jesus? You taught us on the Sermon on the Mount that we should love our enemies.
Well, of course, there is an explanation. The Greek word for hate used here is not the hate that we use (and feel) in our everyday English life. Vine’s Lexicon defines this Greek word to mean “relative preference for one over another.” Therefore, Jesus is telling us that we must prefer Him over all others. We must put him first in our lives if we want to be His disciple.
Now there were times in my life when I had, let’s say, less preference for my parents. I think most teenagers experience this and come to find that parents have their children’s best interest in mind. We learn that they actually do know more than teenagers do.
However, I think that short phrase “yes and his own life also,” gives us an even greater challenge. We usually grow up and love our parents appropriately and, as Christians, put Christ ahead of them. However, putting Christ ahead of ourselves is a different matter!
I can’t think of any sins where pride and selfishness are not present. I John 2:16 spells it out, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” We want what we want and we want it when we want it!
Brethren we must fight against our selfishness and pride. This a constant battle and is crucial to our discipleship!
For the elders, Dave Benner