Take Up Your Cross
What does it mean to you to “take up your cross”?
Verse of the Day
‘Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”’
Today’s Devotional
Some topics and concepts are above my ability to explain. I will leave it to the experts.
“The touchstone for the biblical understanding of submission is Jesus’ astonishing statement, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
Jesus’ teaching on self-denial is the only thing that will bring genuine self-fulfillment and self-actualization. Self-denial conjures up in our minds all sorts of images of groveling and self-hatred. We imagine that it most certainly means the rejection of our individuality and will probably lead to various forms of self-mortification. On the contrary, Jesus calls us to self-denial without self-hatred. Self-denial is simply a way of coming to understand that we do not have to have our own way. Our happiness is not dependent upon getting what we want.
Self-denial is not the same thing as self-contempt. Self-contempt claims that we have no worth, and even if we do have worth, we should reject it. Self-denial declares that we are of infinite worth and shows us how to realize it. Self-contempt denies the goodness of the creation; self-denial affirms that it is indeed good. Jesus made the ability to love ourselves the prerequisite for our reaching out to others (Matt. 22:39). Self-love and self-denial are not in conflict. More than once Jesus made it quite clear that self-denial is the only sure way to love ourselves. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39).
Again, we must underscore that self-denial means the freedom to give way to others. It means to hold others’ interests above our interests. In this way self-denial releases us from self-pity. When we live outside of self-denial, we demand that things go our way. When they do not, we revert to self-pity—“Poor me!” Outwardly we may submit but we do so in a spirit of martyrdom. This spirit of self-pity, of martyrdom, is a sure sign that the Discipline of submission has gone to seed. This is why self-denial is the foundation for submission; it saves us from self-indulgence.
Our difficulty is due primarily to the fact that we have failed to understand Jesus’ teaching that the way to self-fulfillment is through self-denial.
Self-denial is the touchstone for the Discipline of submission.
It is impossible to overstate the revolutionary character of Jesus’ life and teaching at this point. It did away with all the claims to privileged position and status. It called into being a whole new order of leadership. The cross-life of Jesus undermined all social orders based on power and self-interest.
We are commanded to live a life of submission because Jesus lived a life of submission, not because we are in a particular place or station in life. Self-denial is a posture fitting for all those who follow the crucified Lord.” (Richard Foster on the Discipline of Submission)
Jesus is asking us to give up our own way and follow Him in a life of loving submission. With His help, we have the ability to set down our desires, preferences, and opinions for the sake of others. We have opportunities to practice submission every single day, and it starts with submitting our will and our lives to God.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How has the self-denial of someone else shown you what submission looks like?
How does your self-will try to lead you astray from God’s will?
What does it mean to you, specifically, to take up your cross?
How can you “give way” to someone today?