It’s hard, day after day, to work a job you dislike without complaining… but instead loving your coworkers as Jesus says. It’s hard to be a parent, serving your family day in and day out with a thankful heart—responding in love, joy and patience when you feel overwhelmed by all their needs (and have needs of your own to meet also). It’s hard to pray for someone who hurt you and forgive them.
You may be asking yourself how you can pick up your cross daily to live as God wants you to, when it can feel so hard.
God equips you through his teaching in the Bible and he also lives within you… so you can do it. He will always guide you and lead you, never forsaking you. You have to keep choosing to do it and saying yes, thinking about Christ to think about others over yourself. He will take care of you.
Bible Verses About Taking up Your Cross
Everyone’s cross looks different, depending on what God calls you to in your life, but Jesus calls us all to take up the cross.
There are many Bible verses about taking up your cross. These verses have to do with discipleship, as you are his disciple when you follow him. This means you are his student and you should model how he calls you to live.
He showed you how to live by coming down to earth. Jesus says to “take up his cross and follow me” (ESV) in such verses as Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says to “take up his cross daily and follow me.” (ESV)
It is clear that Jesus says when you follow him you should do this—and it should be every day in big and small ways as a parent, spouse, friend, or whatever he has called you to.
What Does It Mean to Deny Yourself?
When you want to be a disciple, following Jesus, you have to be ready and willing to deny yourself—this means to take up your cross and follow him every day.
To take up your cross and follow Jesus you have to be going after Godly things, and not things of this world which waste away.
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25, ESV)
Make a decision each day to put Jesus above it all, following him over going after things of this world that are pointless. Don’t focus on yourself. Have his mindset: think about others.
You have to make this choice. You can’t let your wants win out; you have to want Jesus more than anything.
Instead of being on your phone, spend time with your kids or volunteer to do the jobs at church that no one wants to do like sweeping the floor or taking out the trash. Help a friend in need move, even if you don’t want to.
Live as Jesus did, in sacrifice. The cost is high, as he shows us, but there is no better way to live than to live for him, and like him. Living this way yields so much fruit and blessings, giving you the changed life you desire and the intimacy you want with him.
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me
To carry your cross means denying yourself and doing what God wants you to do, which is living according to his will in the Bible.
Jesus carried his cross literally—dying for you and denying himself. We need to deny ourselves in big and small ways every day, despite how hard it is.
Yes, you are taking part in the suffering with Christ… but you get the gift of connection with him in profound, unspeakable ways when you live in this way.
It makes the cross more relatable to your life on a personal level when you can relate to his suffering, which you need to love him more.
People will see who you follow when you take up the cross.
To take up your cross daily can look like making a commitment to say yes to Jesus each day in obedience, giving him your day in complete surrender, trusting him to take care of you and continuously saying yes to him.
It looks like living a life that is not focused on yourself. The disciples not only had to deny themselves but also had to consider they might have to die for Jesus, too.
We have to have a heart that is as devoted to him daily to die to ourselves. It is the only life worth living, as Jesus is worthy of it all.
You get one life. Nothing compares to receiving the great love that you have been longing for forever; having forgiveness from your sins; never being alone; spending eternity with him; or having his peace, comfort, and joy in the worst times, knowing he is working all things out for your good according to his purposes.
How You Pick up Your Cross Daily
You have to keep choosing to pick up your cross daily by keeping Jesus at the forefront of your mind to die to self, burying all things from your old self and being made new.
Christ isn’t done with you yet: he’s changing you to be more like him as you yield to the Spirit by choosing to pick up your cross daily.
Choose to think about him and others over yourself. He did this for you, having the Father as his focus… and you. This should be your mindset, too.
Below you will find some examples from the Bible of choices you can make to take up your cross by means of denying yourself.
The book of Luke speaks about three people who came into contact with Jesus and who had to make a choice. You can learn from them to pick up your cross daily.
As you read, think about applying these ways to take up your cross in your own life.
1. Find Security, Safety and Everything in Him
To “take up his cross and follow me,” as Jesus says, you need to be ready to let go of all things in this life that are material, etc., and find everything in him.
“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’” (Luke 9:57-58, ESV)
This shows that following him demands great sacrifice and a loss of things on this earth or relationships that are seen as important… but nothing compares to a life of following him. Jesus left behind his comforts to take up his cross.
But, in exchange, it allows you to gain real security and safety because the world can’t offer those. The world can’t guarantee you anything, but with Jesus when you choose to give up things for him you gain so much and he will always take care of you and provide for you in all ways.
Picking up your cross is saying yes to giving up things to follow him. You may need to give up having that big house to instead pay for private school for your kids, or not be friends with a certain person because their influence is not good for you.
2. Put Jesus First and Commit to Him No Matter What
To pick up your cross daily is to be fully committed to Christ, putting him first in your life day after day, no matter what comes up. Nothing should hold you back.
“To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:59-60, ESV)
Nothing in this world, no obligation, should come before him. You have to put following him as your top priority and he will take care of the rest when he asks you to do something.
Pick up your cross daily in the morning, seeking him, to see what he wants you to say yes to… and let him take care of the rest. Be in complete surrender to him, putting him first. You can’t do it perfectly, but it’s all about your commitment to Christ.
3. Obey Right Away
Lastly, taking up the cross looks like obeying Jesus right away.
“Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:61-62, ESV)
You have to focus on obeying him in your mind to do this, without a care about the things of the world or your position in it. You will get a reward from him and hold honor with him, which is all that matters (as seen in Matthew 16:27).
Pick up your cross daily by obeying him right away when he asks you to do something at work, in your relationships, in whatever he has called you to do in this life. Nothing is better than obeying him.
The example of taking up your cross, which Jesus showed you as he took up his cross, should be lived out daily. Yes, it’s hard and challenging… but the benefits of carrying the cross are so great. These include a deep intimate relationship with him and glorifying him. There is nothing better than this.
Jesus is worthy of it all and you can pick up your cross daily in life, however it looks, when you remember these 3 choices: finding security, safety and everything in him; putting Jesus first and committing to him, no matter what; and obeying him right away. Yes, the cost is great to live in this manner, but the blessings are even better now and for eternity. Forsaking his calling for you is the worst thing you can do. Think of Christ to think of others, not yourself, as he will take care of you.
