“The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. The one who has found his life will lose it, and the one who has lost his life on My account will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39, New American Standard Bible).
In Matthew 8:18-22, Jesus challenged a few prospective disciples by describing the sacrifices they would have to make to follow Him. He did this again at the end of Matthew 10, where He gave instructions to the disciples before sending them out to preach and heal in His name.
Are we willing to pay the price?
Do we place family above God? Jesus said that we are not worthy of Him if we love our parents or children more than Him. In recent years, we have replaced the phrase “Christian morality” with “family values.” Family is important. We should marry with the goal of staying together for our entire lives (Matthew 5:31-32). We should honor our parents (Exodus 20:12) and raise our children without “antagonizing” them (Colossians 3:21). However, how do we respond when obedience to Christ conflicts with the will of our family? When we have to choose between obeying God and maintaining peace in our homes, which do we choose?
Do we seek to preserve our life instead of bearing the cross? Do you step back from doing God’s will if it will force you to risk your financial comfort, career success, job security, or popularity? Do personal pleasure, leisure, or entertainment get between you and the Lord? Is it more important to you that you have a long healthy life or that you bear fruit for the kingdom of God?
Are you willing to make the hard choices necessary to be a disciple of Christ?
Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Copyright © 2023 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.
Darkened Glass Reflections 
4 responses to “The Words of Christ—Matthew 10:37-39”
Hi ,
(Matthew 10 : 37) says:’Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me & whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.’
This verse is propounded nicely in this article.
This is one way of explanation about, How to love God.
(John 14 : 21) state :Jesus said, ‘ Whoever has my commandments & keeps them ,he it is who loves me.’
Jesus ‘ commandments means His teaching. He confirmed that the Ten Commandments are still in force.
This is the teaching of Jesus’ _:
1)’ Seek God’s kingdom first of all.’ (Matthew. 6: 33)
2)“You must be born again.”(John 3 : 7)
Take sin very seriously.’
(Matthew 5 : 29)
‘ Repent,for the kingdom of heaven is near.'(Matthew 4:1)
3) ‘Deny yourself’.(Luke. 8: 21)
‘Take My yoke upon you & learn from me.’ (Matthew. 11: 28 )
‘Come & follow Me’.(Matt. 4:19)
4)“Judge not, that ye be not judged.'( Matthew .7:1)
5)’Keep your word.'(Matthew . 5 : 37)
6) ‘Give to those who can’t reciprocate .'(Luke 14:12–14)
7) ‘Deal nicely with offenders.’
(Matthew .18 :15)
8)’ Be reconciled to one another.’ (Matthew . 5 : 23)
9)’Go above & beyond, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with
them two miles.'(Matthew. 5: 41)
10) ‘Resist not evil.'(Matthew. 5 : 39)
11) ‘Practice forgiveness.’
(Matthew 18: 21–22)
12) “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law.’
(Matthew 7:12 )
13) ‘ Let your light shine before all people.'(Matthew .5:16)
14) ‘Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.'(Matthew 20: 27)
15)’Do not despise the little ones. ‘(Matthew. 18:10)
16) ‘ Ask, seek & knock.’
(Matthew 7: 7)
17).’Be ye wise as serpents, & harmless as doves.'(Matthew. 10:16)
18) “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.’ (Matthew. 7: 6)
19) ‘Watch out for greed.’
(Luke 12 :15)
20) ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.’ (Matthew. 6: 20)
21)’Do not worry about tomorrow.’
(Matthew 6: 34)
22)’Focus on spiritual disciplines for the right reasons.’
( Matthew .6 : 1–18)
23) ‘ Fear not the which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.’ (Matthew 10 : 28)
24)‘Render unto God the things that are God’s.’( Matthew 22 : 21)
25) ‘Choose the narrow path to life’. (Matthew 7:13)
26) ‘Receive Gods power.’
( Acts 1 : 8)
27) ‘Make disciples of all the nations.’ (Matthew 28 : 18)
28)’ Look out for false
prophets.’ (Matthew 7: 20)
29) ‘ Stay alert & keep watch on Lord’s coming.’ (Matthew . 24: 44)
30)’Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ (Matthew. 5 : 48)
The disciples of Jesus were loving Him. He said to them,” The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me.’ (John 16 : 27)
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There is no diplomatically correct answer you can’t help loving your family to a fault, but with every temptation He says there is a way out, you just need the courage to take it
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I was thinking of the temptation to put your family ABOVE the Lord, like people who will justify children’s lifestyles even when they go against Scripture, or consistently skip church because the family wants to do other things. Taking care of them, nurturing children, showing compassion and affection, etc., are one thing. Going along with sin for your family’s sake, or refusing to do anything to serve God, are completely different.
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I totally agree and don’t want to make excuses to people please, maybe I’ve been in too many charismatic meetings, but I have too many christians telling me to trust God when I have overwhelming situations, which my wife and I have been bombarded with nonstop for the past two years.
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