If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26 CSB
What is Jesus doing with this? Hate your family, and even your own life? Though it is sometimes hard for so called ‘self-dependent’ people to understand, folks throughout most of history have trusted and followed their family and their family’s values. The next steps for a person’s life were derived from family, friends, and the surrounding community.
Jesus is calling people out of the norm. Even today in the independent American world, people tend to rely on family and friends to guide them. Now is that bad? No. It can be a very good thing to follow these folks. But Jesus wanted to make it clear to His hearers that to follow Him, they may have to break with all of that.
Jesus wants His followers to be willing to sacrifice everything for Him. Even our ideas of what is best for our lives should be given up for His leadership. To follow Him means to follow Him unconditionally.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus! Gladly we will follow Him Who our soul loves! You are so wonderful, Father! Thank You for Your plan for us. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.