The
cost of following Christ according to the scripture
INTRODUCTION
Many of us, we claim to follow Jesus
Christ. We go to church on Sundays or Saturdays, we memorize the Bible verses
and we try to help each other as the Bible instructs us. But when we read and
analyze what Jesus said, we notice something very serious. Following Jesus is
not being overly Christian; it is not about donating much in the church.
Following Jesus is surrendering all that pull us away from him. Jesus said that
following him is not easy. He said following him comes with a cost. Sometimes,
at this point we get confused about the cost Jesus is telling us. Some of us,
we think that cost as something materialistic. However, Jesus is not asking us
for our wealth instead he is asking for our heart, to let him in our hearts.
Following Jesus requires us to be committed to him and that commitment
sometimes it costs us our ambition, personal relationship or comfort. While we
were saved at no cost, the Bible teaches us to carry our own cross and
prioritize God over everything in our lives. As Christians, it is better to
know the cost of following Jesus so that we do not get confused about what it
takes to Jesus’s follower.
What
cost does Jesus mean?
In the New Testament , Jesus was preaching
to the big crowd, and told them that people who want to follow him must carry
their own crosses. When Jesus says to carry crosses, he is not saying the
crosses they use for executing people. The cross Jesus means is our pain and
troubles. Sometimes, we face problems that feel like they are too much for us,
we wonder why we are facing those problems. But the Bible tells that God does
not give us the crosses we are not able to carrying. God gives us those crosses
because he knows that we are able to handle them. When Jesus said to carry our
own cross, he meant to be able to give up on everything that distracts us from
following Jesus. Sometimes, it is to hard to sacrifice the joy we get from
earth to follow Jesus. We are to greedy about the success that sometimes we
forget to follow Jesus. It feels so hard to let go of something we enjoy, but
the Bible tells us that the only true joy, is the joy that comes from Jesus
Christ. Jesus also tell us to know the cost before following him. Like when we
are planning for something, we first account for the budget to make sure if it
is going to finance that project. That how it is when following Jesus. We need
to check if we are able to handle all the pain we are going to face in the way
of following Jesus. Jesus want us to understand that following him is the
decision we have to make knowing that it comes with a cost.
The
cost of letting go of the control over our lives
As humans, we feel like we are the one who
design how our lives have to go. We feel safer when we know that we are in
control of our lives. One of the biggest cost in our lives is letting go of
control on our lives. Jesus tells us that if we chase the life, we will lose it
and if we are able to give up on our lives for him, we are going to find a
life. Sometimes, we get confused on this point and think that Jesus is telling
us to not care about our lives or give up completely on our lives. However,
that not what Jesus is trying to tell us. What Jesus meant by that, is that if
we live according to our plans, pride or dreams, all we gain is temporary
success or no success at all and lose the eternal salvation. Living according
to God’s purpose and plans awards eternal salvation and no one who feels
ashamed for following Jesus. Being able to lose the life for Jesus means,
accepting Jesus as a savior, trusting his word and live according to God’s
purpose. The time we surrender our lives
to Jesus, we come to know what it is to live according to God’s purpose. We
discover our purpose when we accept to follow Jesus with all our hearts.
Following Jesus means to prioritize what God want with our lives rather than
what we want to do with our lives. The cost of giving up the control on life is
not easy. It can affect our relationship, carrier or even our future but it is
worth because there is no loss in following Jesus Christ.
The
cost of reputation
Following Jesus sometimes it changes the
way people look at us. Some people may start to question your faith and some
people may thing that you are being too Christian or too serious. Other people
may even disagree with your moral values. You might lose some of your friends
because your belief does not meet theirs. But here is the truth, we people
agree with everything we believe, it simply means we are not living our lives
boldly. People rejected even Jesus many times; his disciples were imprisoned
because their belief was different to others. Following Jesus teaches us that
we do not have to agree people when we know they are wrong. Following Jesus
means being able to disagree with people who are not in the wrong direction.
Following Jesus means being honest when others are being deceitful and
dishonest. Following Jesus means to refuse to live in the world of injustice
and crime. Following Jesus means refusing to live in unhealthy relationship.
Sometimes, standing on our faith makes us loose many friends and feel like you
are standing alone but we are never alone. When we choose to follow Jesus, he
never leaves our sides.
Sometimes it is necessary to choose to
stand alone rather than being with people, you do not agree with.
The
cost of comfort
We all like to live in a world of comfort.
We do not like to face changes. We like safety life; we like to live in a life
where we can predict how we want our future. But it hard to experience growth
in comfort. Following Christ means:
·
Forgiving people who hurts us;
sometimes we feel like we cannot forgive people who disappointed us or people
who betrayed us. Following Jesus teaches us that the way of reuniting with
Christ is by reuniting with our neighbors first. We cannot follow Jesus when we
have conflict with one another. It is important to know that, following Jesus
costs us our ego and letting go of the past and forgive those who wronged us.
·
Serving God even if we are
tired; following Jesus costs us our free time. These is no right time to serve
God, every time is right to serve God. And what we do in our free time shows if
we are serving God or not. We do not have to use tiredness as an excuse of not
serving God. And being busy or tired is not an excuse of not following Jesus.
·
Staying calm when we want to
react: following Jesus teaches us to not let our emotions control us. Sometimes
it is important to stay calm instead of showing our reaction. Jesus stayed calm
when he was rejected, he did not react. This is a good example for us to teach
us to choose calm over reactions.
·
Sacrificing: sometimes,
sacrificing what pulls us away from God is the best option. We saw that
following Jesus, we must sacrifice all those that limits the time we spend with
him. Carrying our crosses tells us to sacrifice all that does not please the Lord
and follow Jesus.
Comfort gives us earth pleasure but
following Christ gives us eternal joy.
The
Cost of Success
No one hates the success. All we thrive for
here on earth is success. In the Bible, Paul tells us that everything we gain
before knowing Christ becomes less important we come to know him. This does not
tell us that success is not important or success is a bad thing. It means that
success should not be our God. We as humans, we put success over everything, we
spend our quality of time chasing over the success. We value everything in
terms of success. But the Bible tells us that if we give more respect to money,
our status or our wealth more we give obedience to God, these things takes
God’s place in our hearts. One thing we have to know is that money and success
is temporary but the grace of following Jesus Christ is eternal. Following
Jesus Christ means choosing the way of salvation over the promotions or status.
Following Jesus teaches us to choose morality over popularity.
We have to understand that choice costs
opportunity but it protects our soul.
The
cost of change
The biggest cost is the cost of change. We
do not prefer to face new changes. When we choose to follow Christ means we do
not have to remain the same. Following Jesus requests to change some of our
habits. Following Christs means we are able to let go of pride and welcome the
humbleness. Following Christ costs us to let go of the altitude and allow to be
corrected whenever we are wrong. It is understandable that change feels
uncomfortable but growth requires us to change.
Believing Christ is not enough, Living our lives to him is. Following
Jesus requires us to transform ourselves and accept changes in our lives.
Accepting the change takes time and it takes effort but that effort we take to
change they are always appreciated by God.
What
do we gain from following Christ?
We can ask ourselves this question: If
following Jesus Christ costs us comfort, success, change and reputation. What
do we gain afterwards? Because what we gain from following Jesus is far more
than what we lose. Here are what we gain from letting go everything and follow
Christ:
1.
We gain real peace: The
happiness we get from the world is temporary but the joy and peace we get from
following Jesus is permanent and eternal. Following Jesus gives the peace which
is not controlled by and circumstances or situation. We life changes or people
disappoints, only God remains faithful. Peace offered by God is more important
compared to Joy we get from the world
2.
We gain clear purpose: We spend
our lives chasing the success and still we feel empty in our hearts. Without
Christ in our lives, we do not understand our purpose but knowing Christ gives
us the access to the eternal life. When we follow Jesus we understand our
purpose, we know what it is to live according to God’s purpose.
3.
We gain identity: As humans, we
define our identity as performance. We see our identity in results or success.
But all of these things can be lost in a minute. Following Christ gives us a
permanent identity. When we follow Jesus, we come to know that we are not
valuable because we are wealthy. We know that we are valuable because we know
Jesus Christ and we belong to him.
4.
We gain strength in the hard
times: Everyone experiences pain, whether he follows Jesus or not. The
difference is that when you follow Jesus, you get pain but also you get hope.
In the hard times when you follow Jesus, you get direction and you gain spiritual
strength to walk you through the pain.
5.
We gain eternal salvation: The
biggest reward of following Jesus Christ is the grace of eternal salvation.
Temporary loss or sacrifice cannot equals to eternal salvation. When we
understand eternal salvation, we make wiser decisions and we do not let fear
control us.
Yes, following Christ costs us sacrifices,
but the reward we gain from following him is worthy of following him.
CONCLUSION
Following Christ does not have to be
something we do as a leisure activity. It is not something we have to do when
we are relaxed. It is supposed to be our daily habit. Following Christ may cost
us our comfort, success or reputation but what we gain afterwards is much
bigger than what we sacrifice. When we follow Christ, we gain the peace the
world cannot offer. We gain our identity, which is not based on our performance.
We gain the gift of eternal salvation. Jesus never promised us that the way of
following him was going to be easy. He promised that the reward we are going to
gain are nothing compared to world’s reward. Following Jesus is worth
everything and those who follow him will not feel ashamed of following him.
Written
By
Heritier Cyuzuzo
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