Counting the Cost of Faith

Now great crowds accompanied him, 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?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ – Luke 14:25-30 (ESV)

Sadly we have made the life of a disciple of Jesus a life of convenience. We approach it from the perspective of what is in it for me and I will follow when I can / desire too.

Often we approach Jesus as nothing more than a fix-it-man to bail us out when life gets hard.

Yet when we make Jesus our Lord we should be submitting ourselves to Him as a slave does to a master. This new life is costly. It will cost us the complete rejection of our old life.

Once you count the cost, then you have to decide whether you are really willing to do what it takes to follow through.  – John Maxwell, Today Matters

A life truly lived for Jesus can put us at odds with those who have not made that same decision. Even odds against our own mother and father. Does Jesus really want me us to hate our own family?  For many of us, our families have a great influence in our lives

Jesus comes and declares that to be His disciple He must be first. You must follow Him and Him alone. So there is a cost to follow Jesus. A cost that could very easily cause us to create stress and even break a relationship with our own mother and father.

Does this seem harsh or wrong? Jesus has paid for our redemption with His very own life so to follow Him requires all of our own. Are we really willing to take up our cross and live fully and completely for him even if it costs us everything?  (Matthew 16:24-26). He calls us to even hate our own life. – We are to be fully His possession.

Yes we will always love our families and friends and we are to do what we can to live a life as a witness  of the great joy of following Jesus. However, our relationships may never be the same.  It is a great cost to follow but when we take up our cross and are willing to give up everything we find great joy.

There is a great cost – let us rise up and follow with all that we are.

Only when we life fully for him do we discover the true life we are created for. A life that even when our world seems to be falling apart we find ourselves wrapped in peace and joy. A life wrapped in his love!

There is a great cost but the reward of a life in Christ is wonderful.

And he gives us the power of His Holy Spirit to give us to strength to pay this great but wonderful cost.

“You have to pay the price. you will find that everything in life exacts a price, and you will have to decide whether the price is worth the prize.” – Sam Nunn, Quoted by John Maxwell in Today Matters

Do you count the cost of a walk of faith?

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About the Author: Jon Stallings

I am enthusiastic about helping others discover their purpose and grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is great to see their eyes light up at their “Ah Ha!” moment when they discover they were created for something more. My hope is that this blog will help encourage and inspire you along your way. Join the conversation and take the time to share with me your own story. I have been married to my beautiful wife Janice for over 30 years. We currently live in McDonough Georgia with our daughter. Our two boys have left the nest and we have two wonderful grand kids. Of course we cannot forget about our dog Bear.