“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Luke 14:33
Jesus Christ teaches us that being His disciple comes at a cost. The cost of discipleship involves the sacrifices, commitments, and challenges of following Christ. Anyone who desires to follow Him must be ready to let go of anything that hinders their devotion to Him. Following Jesus will cost you everything, like your time, attention, and strength. In this article, we will be looking at six challenges of discipleship.
- Self-denial: Jesus Christ said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). This means giving up personal desires, ambitions, and comforts that do not align with God’s will for our lives. We should not gratify the desires of the flesh but be led by the Spirit.
- Sufferings and persecutions: Disciples will inevitably face sufferings and persecutions for their faith. Christ warned us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Matthew 5:10-12 states, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
- Detachment from worldly things: Being a disciple of Christ requires a willingness to follow Him at all costs. The Lord Jesus instructs us to prioritize Him above everything even family or possessions (Matt 10:37). We are called to leave sinful and worldly ways for a life of righteousness (Eph 4:22-24).
- Surrendering to God’s will: Discipleship requires surrendering one’s life entirely to Christ. Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matt 16:25). Abraham demonstrated complete surrender to God’s will by leaving his country, his people and his fathers household in faith to go to the land that the Lord would show him (Gen 12:1).
- Rejection: Following Christ may result in rejection or alienation from others, as He warned that believers would be hated by the world (John 15:18-19). Matthew 10:34-37 states, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their family more than me is not worthy of me.”
- Spiritual warfare: The moment we commit ourselves to discipleship, we start facing opposition from the kingdom of darkness. According to Ephesians 6:12, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Disciples experience spiritual battles, sometimes without invitation nor warning. We must always be ready by equipping ourselves with the armor of God and resist the enemy (Eph 6:10-18).
Many of us know enough about discipleship and what we have to do, but we try to hide away from it because of the challenges that come with it. As a result, we delay our spiritual growth in our walk with the Lord. The Bible says the righteous shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, God has no pleasure in him (Heb 10:38). Christ promises that following Him leads to a peaceful life and eternal reward. Let us all strive to be true disciples of Christ and never forget that the cost of discipleship is worth it.
Further study: Luke 14:25-35
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