“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.”
Luke 14:26, LSB
These words of Jesus are jarring and they are meant to be because it is easy to keep a devotion that does not challenge all of our relationships. The usage of the term “hate” is not meant to convey a contempt for or true dislike of family or self, but that our love for them is meant to be less than our love of God, significantly less. If our family or loved ones seek to contradict our faith or draw us away from Christ, we should rebuke them. Sadly, we often worry more about our relationships with others over and above God. Our Lord desires our full obedience to Him. The Bible wants us to care and love our family, this is clearly stated many times. The greatest care we can offer is the Gospel of our Lord and the salvation promise that comes from Christ and Christ alone. What would be more cruel than to not be fearful of God and His wrath and let those whom we love perish because they reject Him because of our unwillingness to stand firm in our witness? Our Lord desires for us to always be His disciples and stand fast in our faith sharing it so all may come to know Him. In this, we may find peace.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.
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