Now great crowds accompanied Him [Jesus], 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. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? … Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
(Luke 14:25-28, 31-35 ESV)
This is one of those passages that make us squirm. Really, Lord, we have to hate our own families? We have to renounce everything we have?
I think Jesus intends us to squirm. If we aren’t squirming, we aren’t taking Him seriously enough.
Because He’s absolutely right when He says that following Him may cost us our families, our belongings, and even our own lives. Plenty of Christians have lost everything for Him already. We may be more privileged, but there’s no guarantee about the future. I have a friend whose family is throwing him out right now because of his faith in Jesus!
So does this mean we have to get rid of everything right now if we want to have Jesus? No, but we have to be prepared for the possibility. Some of Jesus’ early disciples did keep their homes, their families, their businesses. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus opened their home to Jesus when He was visiting Jerusalem. Matthew entertained Him at dinner. At least one of the disciples had access to a fishing boat, to carry Jesus around in. What they held on to, they kept with the intention of serving God first. And if a conflict ever arose, they knew Who was going to come first.
All this is very hard—but it becomes possible when we think of the way Jesus has loved us. Because He didn’t wait to see if He was going to have to lose it all for us—He tossed it aside. It was Jesus who left heaven behind to become our Savior—who traded a glorious throne for a musty, straw-lined manger. It was Jesus who left behind family and home to walk the roads of Palestine, teaching, healing, and serving from morning till night. And it was Jesus who lay down His own life for love of us, at the cross—because by doing that, He could win our freedom from sin, death, and the devil.
Now that Jesus has risen from the dead, He gives us everything we need. Life? Yes, life that lasts forever. Family? Yes—His own church as our brothers and sisters, and God Himself as our Father. Even if we lose it all, we have Jesus—the One who loves us like nobody else, and we will have Him forever.
We Pray: Dear Jesus, keep my eyes and heart set on You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on September 4, 2025
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved.
Reflection Questions:
1. What three things matter most in your life?
2. When have you lost something, however tiny, for Jesus’ sake?
3. What specific good things has Jesus given you?